Review of Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) by Enterfilm — 09 Feb 2019

Written and Directed by Dan Gilroy, Velvet buzzsaw shows takes you on a satirical ride through the dark and twisted world of modern art.

Gilroy once again teams up with Jake Gyllenhaal staring as a strange pretentious art critic. Rene Russo playing Rhodora a cut throat art gallery owner and Zawe Ashton as her 'protegee' Josefina. As well as John Malkovich as a famous idea blocked artist.

Josefina finds numerous unusual pieces of artwork from her recently deceased neighbour Vetril Dease. Who upon his death willed everything to be destroyed. So naturally Josefina steals these before that can happen and eventually shares them with Rhodora and Morf to exploit this opportunity for their own gain. From this point on, things are not quite the same, these are not just your regular masterpiece.

The cinematography is right off the top shelf for me. Whether that's with the camera panning through crowds of people hearing numerous conversations about the work of Dease, or subtle uses of the art reflecting within the glasses of a mesmerised Gyllenhaal.

Music is something that always stands out to me in horror movies and with Velvet Buzzsaw it fit every scene perfectly, the instruments and tempo flawlessly matched the scene increasing the eeriness, particularly showcases when Josefina explores the room of Dease.

Velvet Buzzsaw does not pack the punch it seemed to be building up to. I wish Gilroy had pushed the boundaries even further, it had a perfect balance between horror and satire, but I wish it went a little bit more towards the horror.

Velvet Buzzsaw does provide an interesting looking into the glamorous world of the arts featuring truly exceptional performances.