Review of Starry Eyes (2014) by Facebook U — 16 Dec 2014

While it's not perfect, STARRY EYES is nevertheless a powerful, striking horror film about the corrupting power of ambition. It's a first rate blend of savage satire and all-out, gory terror, and it documents the lengths to which desperate people will go to attain their shot at fame.

Particularly in the early going, the movie exists as a skewering of a particular subset of the Hollywood scene - the Millennial, vapid "wannabes" trying to get their start on the fringes of the industry - that can only have come from filmmakers intimately familiar with that crowd.

The story draws on influences as varied as the "Faust" tale and THE PLAYER and ROSEMARY'S BABY, but the mixture feels startlingly potent and fresh, and it goes to some deeply uncomfortable and troubling areas.

Indeed, the third act tips over into some very grim ultra-violence that is so realistically portrayed as to be incredibly disturbing, almost too much so; those with a low tolerance for upsetting gore should probably stay away.

At the center of it all is Alexandra Essoe as our lead, and she gives a fearless, ferocious performance; she's gifted at being able to play vulnerability in a way that is sympathetic and relatable, while also playing the character's increasing delusion in a way that is truly disconcerting.

Essoe most definitely announces herself as a performer to watch in the future. The picture doesn't fully satisfy on a narrative level (we've seen the vague contours of this story before, though certainly not the execution), but it does on a thematic one, which is probably more important.

STARRY EYES won't be for all tastes, and it's not at all a fun experience, but it truly does serve to disquiet and unnerve its audience, which is what good horror is supposed to do.