A masterpiece. Full stop

Rating: 9/10 (15 July 2019)

I'm hyper-conscious of movie lengths. For example, I sat through the latest Avengers which was 3 hours; I felt ever minute tick by like a long bus trip to Iowa. It was painful. This movie is almost as long, but you don't notice. I had to take a leak half-way through, but I couldn't leave my seat because I didn't want to miss one frame of this film. Ari Aster's direction is outstanding. Nothing is arbitrary. Every shot, camera position, camera movement, art direction, etc is careful, deliberate, and considered, creating a tension that builds from the beginning to its necessary, but satisfying conclusion. Aster isn't one of these pretentious, artsy filmmakers who doesn't know how to end a movie, leaving you hanging. Nothing is extraneous or self-serving. Nothing is too on-the-nose, or gratuitous either. This dude is destined to be the next great American filmmaker, no question. The first hint are the performances, which are all stellar, especially the lead. Florence Pugh is incredible. I think it's the best screen performance I've seen in the last I dunno how long. Oscar-worthy. I love that there are no "stars" in this film, yet they deliver breakout performances. It's altogether intense, funny, and insane. My only critique is the FX body props, which, at times, weren't that great, probably because of budget restraints and the fact that Sweden doesn't have the best creature shops. But that's forgivable given the overall cinematic achievement they pulled off. I have no idea how Aster is going to top this one, but I can't wait to find out.