As the last film of Anton Yelchin I want to say what a complete tragedy it is that we lost this young man to such a mindless accident. This man was a talent that I’ve watched for many years develop and become something special. There is no telling what he could have become in the many years ahead that were stolen from him. It was only after the film that I realised that he was gone and his performance here made me exceptionally sad and yet fulfilled as a movie fan.
The film starts with this scene that sets out the stall for the rest of the film. Olivia Cooke’s character staring at a lovely horse and then a knife. So we know things don’t work out well for the horse, but as we travel through the film the story becomes clearer. Cooke gives, once again, a multi layered performance and her lack of empathy and sympathy to others around her actually make you enjoy watching her character. While Anya Taylor-Joy, since The Witch, has always been someone I enjoy seeing pop up in films. She plays the rich girl who after her Father’s death is trying to cope with the new Stepfather. Playing the Stepfather, who is a majorly self involved moron, is Paul Sparks who most of us will know from House of Cards.  Sparks is born to play this role, it’s not too far of a reach from his other performances. Anton Yelchin plays a loser drug dealer called Tim who gets mixed up in the plans of the girls, I’ve talked about his role here above, it’s fantastic.
Thoroughbreds is going to split the audience, there will be some who find it really bad, I can see why, but for me and a lot of people I know will see what the Director is trying to go for. It’s Stoker mixed with Ghost World. Teenage angst thrown in with violence.  The soundtrack that runs in the background, the choice of photography, and the performances that just keep you guessing by translating the
script in the oddball way, its all designed to make you feel off-balance throughout the film. That’s the best thing about this film it’s that you don’t know where it’s going. Sometimes doing this job we gets to see movies where you can practically write the script as it is happening, you are mouthing the words that you expect and 99% of the time you are right!
This film keeps you so off-balance in the best way, it’s the best pleasantly drunk feeling that I’ve had in a cinema, I don’t want to see the same thing over and over again. I just want to have some moments where I sit in a cinema and see stuff that makes me sit up and pay attention. From performances that leave you wondering what is going to happen, to a script that knows to lead you down one path only to jump over an edge you never knew was coming up, to a bizarre soundtrack that keeps you off guard. It may rub some people up the wrong way, but this is going to be one of my guilty pleasures, that I can share, for a long time to come.
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Director:Â Cory Finley
Writer:Â Cory Finley
Stars: Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin | See full cast & crew
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