Average at Best

Rating: 3/10 (22 February 2020)

I have to admit, there were many laugh out loud moments watching this, but this hardly rises to the praise so many have given it. This movie never makes it to the intensity of a Lars von Trier or Araonfsky film as I hoped it would. I was fighting to stay awake twice, and I was thankful I did for the spectacularly ridiculous conclusion. But spectacularly ridiculous isn't enough to give this movie more than three stars.
There is a grand effort to make a visual and aural impression, but it falls short of films like Mandy, Mother, Blue Velvet, Antichrist, or even Under the Skin. As far as the weirdness factor, or shock factor goes, these newer films can't touch David Lynch, Cronenberg, or even Greenaway - with the exception of the von Trier trilogies - just genius there. If you're looking for gore - the violence reminded me so much of the brilliant Mads Mikkelsen TV series Hannibal, with a direct nod to one of the tableaus at the end of the movie. The film doesn't get a zero though. I thought the acting was excellent, and if this gutted bear of a movie sparks a viewer's interest to see better works than its existence is worth it.