Review of The Outfit (2022) by Jluis_001 — 22 Mar 2022

It's usually difficult to catalogue what kind of pretensions a film might have at the outset, but I could easily tell The Outfit was a story that thought of itself as smarter than it really was.

I'm not criticizing its ambition, because I did like the film, but some clear flaws prevent it from rising above the ordinary.

The story of The Outfit is one that doesn't seek to complicate itself. It's kinda simple, but one of the most remarkable things about the writing is that even when the whole story takes place at the same location, it has enough unpredictable moments to keep the tension focused.

The plot thickens gradually and doesn't seem to reveal much. Sure, you'll intuit a lot about Mark Rylance's character but the script doesn't reveal its gameplay carelessly.

The second and last act do feel sloppy, because in what I think was its writer/director's most substantial flaw is that it seems that at the point of the climax and where the revelations start to roll in, he seems in a rush to conclude, so that part of its major functional element to entertain begins to degrade between what is shown and what is hidden.

The Outfit could've been an excellent work, but its first-time director orchestrates a thoughtful and very cinematic thriller.

It doesn't quite come together, but despite its limitations it was good enough.