I ended up deciding to watch this movie tonight. It felt relatively succinct, as in it didn't drag, but it was a satisfying watch that packed a punch. Aesthetically, the movie had a bit of a saccharine flavor to it (notably in the costume design for the main character), which I'm interpreting as an intentional stylistic choice for the sake of narrative. While it did feel like a pretty succinct movie, I didn't think that there were plot points that were severely underdeveloped -- everything was filled out enough to make sense.
Towards the end, there was a scene that resembled one in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the English version of which is one of my favorite movies (and books). How I would summarize the point of the movie (PYW), in part, is that it's about men being trash. I don't think I've watched a movie quite like this one before, one that approaches the subject of men being trash in this way.
I've had a long-standing taste for thrillers, and this one is a slightly different shade on that palette. I think the last movie I watched was Get Out, and this one seemed vaguely similar to that, in a way.
Without wanting to spoil the movie too much, the basic premise at the outset is that a woman tricks men into taking her home from bars (by pretending to be very drunk) as a form of revenge. It does make me wonder how that might go if someone (perhaps even myself) were to try doing something like that in real life. Or maybe someone already has actually tried that in real life?
This movie is an Oscar contender, which is kind of interesting -- also interestingly, somehow to me it doesn't necessarily seem award-worthy. I think maybe that's because when I think award-worthy, I envision a movie that's perhaps a little deeper and/or more intense, more spectacular somehow. This one wasn't entirely shallow and does well for what it is, but there are probably certain parts or places where it could've been deeper. Definitely a perfectly good movie, but for some reason not quite excellent, in my mind. At some point it might be interesting to dig deeper into the themes and ideas presented in this movie, but not right now (guilt, revenge, youthful innocence, etc.). Further reading from NPR that gets a bit more into an analysis of that sort of thing (note, major spoilers present)
This is, I think, the second movie I've watched that stars Carey Mulligan. The previous one was An Education, which also starred Peter Sarsgaard (ah). I think I found An Education a little underwhelming, but stemming from the plot/script being lacking rather than the actors' performances being bad. There is a third movie with Carey Mulligan, Wildlife, which I think also has Jake Gyllenhaal in it. That's also on my future watchlist, at some point. And someday I should watch Brokeback Mountain, I suppose. I'm a bit all over the place in the movies I end up watching, but there is an appeal to me to watch additional work of a given actor (or director, in some cases) if I've enjoyed something I previously saw them in.
