Two teenage girls come up with the idea of killing the step-Dad. At least that's the simplest one sentence way to describe the plot, but of course it's a bit more complicated than that. Consider this fact, the first scene of the movie involves one of those said teenage girls killing a horse. So despite what you might initially have thought about this movie just based on the trailers, there's more to things than meets the eye. With that said, by the end of the movie, depending on your reactions to it, you might end up feeling indifferent about the whole thing anyway.
Writer-Director Corey Finley has given us something that could easily be accused of being just another manufactured, cynical, and pretentious story. The unique soundtrack alone will make you think that way. I could also just describe this movie to be quirky and weird, which can make this black comedy sound a bit more palatable to comprehend. If you want to ignore all the underlying themes that is. You can also just be entertained by the many conversations that Amanda and Lily have in this, which to me are the main highlights and reasons as to why it's worth checking this movie out.
So yes, the premise and all the characters represent some form of social commentary that should encourage some thought provoking discussions. I would say that it's actually all pretty clever, as to how Finley pulled off this story. I would also say that I also found it to be manipulative at times, and relied too much on particular caveats to add variety to the story. Some of the decisions made for this movie felt a bit misguided to me, but I can't blame him for doing what he did.
On a purely visual level, this movie is fantastic to look at. There's a lot of nice cinematography, despite the relatively limited locations that this movie has to offer. While this has a very small cast, they are all great in this. Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Paul Sparks, and Anton Yelchin; in his final movie role before his passing, are all awesome in their roles. The characters of Amanda and Lily were likely designed to stand out among the many teenage female roles in film history, and I applaud Finley's attempt in doing so. How successful he was is up to you.
I can understand why some people are saying that "Thoroughbreds" could be a new modern cult classic, but I beg to differ. It's clever and has it's quirky qualities, but I think the methodical pacing, the offbeat tone, and the whole "art-house" vibe, will be oft-putting enough for some movie goers. It's hard to say how people will remember this movie in the future, but for now, I'm not going to stop you from checking it out if the trailers got your curiosity going.
loveditenjoyedit LIKED IT itsokayitsmehitsterrible
