A disturbing abstraction

Rating: 10/10 (4 January 2020)

This is art that presents a stark and disturbing image. It is most definitely not a film for the average audience and those who pan this film all say more or less the same thing, which when translated into the absolute basics is that they didn't get it. There's no reason why they should. This film is not for them.
For those of us who have had to deal with extreme relationships and who have had to deal with blind, angry, people whose existence is intractably anchored to things that are ultimately meaningless, this film most definitely strikes home. The challenge is to be able to extract yourself from such dysfunctional people before you yourself are destroyed by it. Spacey's character is that person - destroyed by the soullessness but with a tiny, if perverse, ray of hope.
Some get this film. Other do not. It's up to the viewer. My rating is not based on the notion that it makes me happy or fulfilled, or anything like this. I rate the film on what it is, what it does, and how successful it is at doing it. If a person leaves the theater feeling torn-up, that is the point. It is intended to make the viewer take a look at their own life, to recognize the artificialities, and to extricate themselves from this.