I went into this film completely blind, and I HIGHLY recommend that if you intend on watching it, you stop reading and add this to your watch list. I have a lot of gripes with the film, but ultimately I thought its thoroughly enjoyable plot and interesting character relationships made it an overall enjoyable watch.
I’ll try not to make this a long review, but visually the film is clear and concise, not overly stylized. There is one particular sequence that has some shocking physicality which, as a visual spectacle, was brilliant, but it was paired with the aspect of this film that I disliked the most.
The film was well-acted by most of its lead roles, but I thought some of the supporting roles were a bit lacking in presence. It was my first time seeing Harris in a film, and while he certainly did a good job, I don’t think I was overly amazed. (He is extremely hot though, so I’ll let him away with it).
The twist into the third act caught me so off guard, and I am so glad in a way that it happened. It moved the story on from what was easily my least favorite aspect. The film is INCREDIBLY sententious, and it wields its narrative of class war with the fervor of a raging ape. Woody and this Russian chap’s back-and-forth just beats you over the head with a message that could have been delivered in a much more appropriate and subtle way exclusively through the final act. Screaming the quotes over the PA system to these rich elites as they drown in literal shit is a bit on the nose. This, of course, following the whole swimming scene, just had me worried for the direction of the film.
Thankfully, the final act was the life raft that saved the film from going down like the Titanic. A much tighter story with a more in-depth look at the characters and their day-to-day struggles. The final third manages to move around the greater themes while also simply being the most enjoyable part of the film scene-to-scene.
Ending with the Fred Again song was, however, a bad choice and the only black mark for Act 3. (If I’m being generous, perhaps the modern electronic dance track juxtaposed with the animalistic final scene is meant to show how profoundly the island has changed them.)
I am giving this a 3 which feels maybe harsh relative to how much I liked this. It is as close to a 5 that a 3 can get for me if that makes sense. Truly one aspect and to be honest one scene just ruined this for me.
Logged on Letterboxd