Most people have ambitions of some kind or another, and others merely want fame. The destructiveness of the blind pursuit of fame is a subject that's been done before film, and honestly better than this, but where this film lacks in originality and subtlety it makes up in shock value and being a rather compelling watch. The story is about Sarah, a waitress at a cheesy/sleazy fast food joint who aspires to be an actress. However, the two lifestyles severely conflict with each other as she's constantly checking her phone for callbacks and going off to audition after audition in hopes of landing her breakout role. She also has a group of friends around her who are into the same lifestyle, but they are more relaxed about it and mostly do it for fun. However, when Sarah auditions for a role in a movie called "The Silver Scream," her life (and appearance) begin to change drastically as she discovers how far she'll go to secure her place among the famous. Without delving into spoilers, I will say that the film is rather predictable in the way the narrative unfolds. Yes, Sarah basically sells her soul for fame, and that is essentially the film's major statement. What sets it apart is the way it makes literal this metaphor about the cost of stardom and degree to which it goes for shock value to hit the point home. This approach will probably not go over too well with some, who either appreciate more subtlety or aren't big fans of extreme violence and gore (of which this film has some), but it worked for me. True, I would have appreciated a little more subtlety but a lot of times you take what you can get. And, for an indie film this wasn't half-bad. Performance-wise, everyone did a good job. Aside from one actor (whose name I still don't know, but he was one of the leads in CHEAP THRILLS), I didn't recognize anyone. Still, they did fine with the material and approached it like the satire this was intended to be. As far as technical aspects go, this film also excelled in that area. Visual effects and gore were very well done, especially for being a low-budget indie, and the camera-work was solid in general. The score, however, is probably my favorite aspect. It was an atmospheric electronic score with a driving beat that reminded me of work done in recent Nicolas Winding Refn films like DRIVE and ONLY GOD FORGIVES. So, when all is said and done, is this a sharp, biting satire? Yes and no. It's not very original, and initially you might have some trouble getting into it, but it takes a visceral turn that more than makes up for the somewhat shaky foundation set earlier. If you're looking for something different, why not check this out?
Review of Starry Eyes
