Review of Vox Lux (2018) by Jordanlayton — 30 Apr 2020

Torn about the messaging this movie is trying to get across. The dangers of child stardom and the **** and marketability of trauma are there, but it was done in a way that felt a bit more honest than the usual "A Star Is Bord' formula.

In being more honest, the message is muddled some, but maybe this film is attempting to critique that trope BY being a bit more honest to those people that do rocket stardom at a young age, showing them as clearly flawed people, but still people whose morality isn't quite as black and white as most of these types of films make their stories out to be. Context was provided throughout the story for characters' actions and moods by Willem Dafoe's narration, which I felt really enhanced the honest approach the film was going for. Natalie Portman gives a phenomenal performance as per usual. My main critique is the choice to use the same actress to play both the main character and that main character's daughter in the second chapter of the film. It was just a bit jarring. Even though there's an argument to be made that it was done to show an inheritance of all of the troubles of the main character, I don't feel there were enough beats for that particular facet of the story to warrant such a jarring choice. Liked this one a lot. Btw, note to not watch R-rated films on planes. They edited out so much language that some scenes were actually difficult to follow.