Thoroughbreds (2017).
Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a spoiled, rich kid in Connecticut, living the good life at home with her mother and step-dad Mark (Paul Sparks). When her former friend Amanda (Olivia Cooke), a social misfit, is in need of tutoring for college entrance exams, the two girls rekindle their friendship and bond over their shared dislike of Lily's step-dad. Unfortunately, Mark blindsides Lily by threatening to send her to a boarding school far from home, and the girls decide to take matters into their own hands, with disastrous results.
Thoroughbreds is clearly a masterpiece - even when it reveals the disgusting viscera which lies beneath the most attractive human beings. Is "pretty" only something we wear? Is "good" a thing we can see? Do the good guys always wear white? Or is our civility really a mask that we put on and remove at will? Cooke as Amanda clearly and expertly challenges our perceptions as the token sociopath, while Anton Yelchin, in his final screen performance as Tim, rounds out the roster of deplorable characters as a statutory rapist and drug-czar-to-teenagers.
But wait - just when you think you know the direction writer-director Cory Finley wants to take us, the plot shifts, and the true monster is revealed. Cooke and Taylor-Joy shine throughout this lushly filmed nightmare as privileged girls who refuse to succumb to the banality of their exclusive lifestyle. Their acting is effortless and convincing, which makes this story all the more insidious. The genius behind this film is self-evident, but like many great works of art, it proves a bitter pill to swallow in the end.
- Chipper F. Xavier, Esq.
Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a spoiled, rich kid in Connecticut, living the good life at home with her mother and step-dad Mark (Paul Sparks). When her former friend Amanda (Olivia Cooke), a social misfit, is in need of tutoring for college entrance exams, the two girls rekindle their friendship and bond over their shared dislike of Lily's step-dad. Unfortunately, Mark blindsides Lily by threatening to send her to a boarding school far from home, and the girls decide to take matters into their own hands, with disastrous results.
Thoroughbreds is clearly a masterpiece - even when it reveals the disgusting viscera which lies beneath the most attractive human beings. Is "pretty" only something we wear? Is "good" a thing we can see? Do the good guys always wear white? Or is our civility really a mask that we put on and remove at will? Cooke as Amanda clearly and expertly challenges our perceptions as the token sociopath, while Anton Yelchin, in his final screen performance as Tim, rounds out the roster of deplorable characters as a statutory rapist and drug-czar-to-teenagers.
But wait - just when you think you know the direction writer-director Cory Finley wants to take us, the plot shifts, and the true monster is revealed. Cooke and Taylor-Joy shine throughout this lushly filmed nightmare as privileged girls who refuse to succumb to the banality of their exclusive lifestyle. Their acting is effortless and convincing, which makes this story all the more insidious. The genius behind this film is self-evident, but like many great works of art, it proves a bitter pill to swallow in the end.