Anyone else see this feminist time-travel/horror film with Matt Smith, Diana Rigg, Terence Stamp, and Anya Taylor-Joy? I'll post spoilers inside.

by Anonymous

reply 18

February 13, 2022 10:05 AM

Diana Rigg is still alive?

by Anonymous

reply 1

October 31, 2021 5:14 PM

MINOR SPOILERS:

Most beautifully shot and edited film I've seen in a long time. Very obviously written--you can see the plot turns coming quite a ways away, and the feminist themes are pounded in with a sledgehammer. Owes a heavy, heavy debt to "Repulsion."

Hottest I've ever seen Matt Smith, though he shows no skin. Great last role for Diana Rigg. Anya Taylor-Joy at her most beautiful (although she still looks like an alien), and she sings à capella beautifully.

Best soundtrack I've heard in a long time.

Scary ghosts that look like figures in a Francis Bacon painting.

by Anonymous

reply 2

October 31, 2021 5:15 PM

r1: this was Diana Rigg's last film. It was made just before she died.

by Anonymous

reply 3

October 31, 2021 5:50 PM

I was disappointed. It looked beautiful and I loved the music, but the plot was very creaky and was a bit nonsensical, primarily due to the forced feminism (I don't mind a feminist screed if it feels integral, but that wasn't the case here). The two leading ladies lacked charisma, but it was nice to see Terence Stamp, Rita Tushingham, and Diana Rigg back on the big screen.

by Anonymous

reply 4

November 1, 2021 3:26 AM

I saw it at TIFF and was also disappointed. I really thought I was going to love it, but I agree with R2's rundown. I found Thomasin McKenzie's performance really lacking. Too mousy to be interesting, although she conveys terror really well. Also, the actor who played her boyfriend had a face made for comedy and he kept mugging throughout in a way that kept taking me out of the scene. It was like he was in a different movie.

by Anonymous

reply 5

November 1, 2021 3:31 AM

“Also, the actor who played her boyfriend had a face made for comedy“

LOL

by Anonymous

reply 6

November 1, 2021 3:19 PM

Was that actor deliberately cast, or ineptly miscast?

Or did the actor choose to play the character as a flaming closet case dropping sibilant s's everwhere, or was he unable to hide his own voice and mannerisms?

by Anonymous

reply 7

November 1, 2021 3:33 PM

I could not take the boyfriend seriously, either. He was clearly gay and I agree he was in a different genre. His existence just didn’t make sense to me and wasn’t relevant. I also agree that Thomason Mackenzie seemed like she was playing a mentally deficient character. What is that voice? Is that seriously her real voice? It sounded like she was affecting a Victorian ghost or a character from Harry Potter. Good things about the movie were the cinematography and the soundtrack, of course. Anya Taylor Joy was also not right for the part. I used to kind of like her but now I’m annoyed that she’s in everything. She isn’t that captivating and she has a closer-off quality about her face that makes her difficult to watch. The script for this movie was also ridiculous and juvenile. It reminded me of Baby Driver and of how much it lacked nuance and complexity. I might even say that Baby had more of a developed character than Thomasin did here, though. Scott Pilgrim is Edgar’s best film. And while I really appreciate his persistence in using his original material, he clearly did his best when adapting someone else’s story.

by Anonymous

reply 8

November 1, 2021 3:47 PM

Her whispery baby voice drove me to distraction. I wanted to smack her ala Cher in Moonstruck. The actress is effective in smaller parts where she's used sparingly (Power of the Dog), but as a lead, I don't see it. Also, the themes of the movie **SPOILER**

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were just downright disturbing. As someone above noted, you felt hammered on the head with it, and the idea that every single man in the film was a potential rapist got tiring after a while. The most exciting moment of the entire film for me is when the opening chords of Siouxsie and the Banshee's Happy House started playing.

by Anonymous

reply 9

November 1, 2021 3:56 PM

I cannot stand that girl's voice.

It's annoyingly monotone, and her accent is horrific.

What kind of accent is it anyway? She sounds mentally challenged.

It's very similar to the accent Hero Fiennes had in one of the Harry Potter movies.

Offsite Link

by Anonymous

reply 10

November 1, 2021 4:03 PM

r9, it's even more insidious (more SPOILERS):

a) it's not every man, it's seemingly every white man -- the fact that the non-threatening boyfriend is black is obviously deliberate.

b) as the climax unrolled, I was hopeful the script would acknowledge some nuance by making those men to be the true victims, but then it has to reassert the "men are evil" trope one final time as the heroine basically says that Sandy was right all along to kill those men.

by Anonymous

reply 11

November 1, 2021 4:11 PM

Has Matt Smith's head gotten more rectangular?

by Anonymous

reply 12

November 6, 2021 2:56 AM

I'm sure people overlook his rectangular head on here, R12.

Offsite Link

by Anonymous

reply 13

November 6, 2021 4:01 AM

I didn't know too much about the movie before I saw it because I had avoided the usual spoilers that find their way into reviews. I thought director Edgar Wright nailed the look and feel of late 60s Soho (and Carnaby Street). I visited the area with my parents at the time and the fashions in the movie really took me back.

Matt Smith seems to have grown into his ears, so he has never appeared more handsome. The story involves a nod to time travel and mistaken identities, to put it mildly. And I occasionally found myself confused as to which of the two main female characters I was watching. But the soundtrack is awesome as it samples so many pop hits of the 60s.

That said, it's too bad this was Dame Diana Rigg's last movie role. She deserved better as she closed out her acting career.

by Anonymous

reply 14

November 6, 2021 4:40 AM

The cinematography, production design, music and costumes were perfect. It really captured the feel of London in the 60s. Or at least what I imagine that to be as I was only three years old at the time. And that brings up another theme of this movie. Our nostalgia for the past usually focuses on an idealized version of a particular time. But we often ignore or forget about the darker and more negative aspects.

by Anonymous

reply 15

November 6, 2021 4:52 AM

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Really enjoyed this. Diana Rigg and Anya Taylor Joy being old and young Sandy was fairly predictable and when Sam Clafin turned up as a "punter" it was clear he was Terence Stamp's younger self and not Matt Smith. The 60s scenes were fantastic and Anya Taylor Joy was perfect in the role.

The modern day aspects were less successful and Thomasin McKenzie was strangely pitched and the chemistry with her potential love interest was comical. The Tania Degano room mate/college girl was very good.

The twist of Sandy being a serial killer WAS a surprise though. When Elouise was in the library looking at the newspaper headlines I didn't link the missing men to Sandy's "punters". To the poster who said it was only white men, there were black men amongst the line up of punters but this was the 1960s when a certain type of gent would be introduced to showgirls like Sandy. I didn't get the idea that they deserved to die but the men all knew the women were being exploited when they paid for them.

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by Anonymous

reply 16

November 19, 2021 6:10 PM

I liked the movie. I would've said I loved it if they didn't show too much of those ghostly men (basically all of the ones who had slept with Sandy). Yes, 2 or 3 scenes with them was fine. But almost all of the second half of the movie was dedicated to them chasing and terrorizing Eloise everywhere, which was boring and cliché. Other than that, I really liked the whole concept and plot of the film.

by Anonymous

reply 17

November 19, 2021 6:16 PM

"but then it has to reassert the "men are evil" trope one final time as the heroine basically says that Sandy was right all along to kill those men."

So?

by Anonymous

reply 18

February 13, 2022 10:05 AM