Review of Thoroughbreds (2018) by Glenn G — 19 Mar 2018

**Slight disclaimer: My "reviews," are really just gut reactions that I can remember and jot down. Forgive the sloppy styling, grammatical errors and general upheaval of my writing. While I do try and write something cohesive and obeying film review etiquette, mostly, I say fuck that. What I love about theater going, is the surge of emotions I experience, especially during a particularly bad or a truly great film. I try (and likely fail) to translate that feeling into my writing but hey, I warned you. You can stop now and I'll never know.

Thoroughbreds.

Watched 3/18/2017.

Rich, white, teenage girls. Not really my cup of tea, what kind of story could possibly conjure me to put on pants (I nearly went the entire weekend without them), get in my car, and drive to the theater? The answer: this one. I saw the trailer for Thoroughbreds and thought it looked interesting, a zany comedy in which two unhappy, well off, spoiler, teenage girls plan to kill their stepfather. In typical trailer fashion, this was nothing near what we bargained for, first time director and writer Cory Finley had something else in store.

When we first meet Lily (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) she is a kind, loving nurturing tutor to Amanda (played by Olivia Cooke) her emotionless, monotone, friend. We hear about a supposed heinous crime Amanda committed and immediately judge her and what's she's all about. As the story unfolds we see a massive shift in personality and tone. As the seemingly innocent, relatively normal Lily begins to crack and her counterpart Amanda remains composed, calculated and in control. We've seen the genius of Taylor-Joy in one of the most provocative horror films of all time: The Witch, her growth as a performer in the 2 years since its release leads me to believe her talent is boundless. This is the first role I've ever seen Cooke in, but she is splendid here. Her deadpan, heartless delivery is earnest and unironic.

I think the true performance of this film belongs to the late Anton Yelchin. This obviously was a posthumous release, which filled me with a very real sadness. Yelchin was a great performer, he had an incredibly bright future and it's a true tragedy we will never see his talent light up a screen again.

Yelchin played the despicable yet can't help but feel sorry for: Tim. A late 20-something who we learn grew up rich but decided to leave his family, drop out of boarding school, and make it his own way. His own way, of course is selling drugs to kids at highschool parties and pushing dishes at the local elderly care center, he constantly reminds us that, "it's just temporary." He has dreams of being a big time drug dealer and a full time hustler, the girls, decide to hire him to make the hit on Amanda's step-dad.

I loved this movie. I thought it was going one way, then it switched directions and when I had that figured out it switched again. It's a slow, relentless, burn and it made me feel empty and hollow inside, which isn't too different from how I normally feel, but this is a sick, demented, twisted film. And it tortures us without gore, mundane violence, or mindless dialogue. Most comedies have to be ironic and self aware, they aren't brave enough to really convey an original idea or take a risk (without taking a cheap shot). Thoroughbreds came to stun and did a fantastic job.

The credits rolled up and I didnt want to leave the theater, the feeling this film left me with sunk to the bottom of my stomach. I haven't been this physically taken by a movie since Darren Aronofsky's (cult film in the making) "mother!" This is Cory Finley's first feature, and with all of this young talent, Finley being 28, Taylor-Joy 21, Cooke 24, and Yelchin 26 (at the time of filming); I have a lot of hope for the next generation of filmmakers and performers. These young people are tearing down walls on old, worn out conventions and bursting through the ceiling of what defines genre. What a time to love cinema.