Wild, Crazy, Brutal Roller-coaster Ride

Rating: 9/10 (17 September 2017)

Before going into the movie, I had a seen a review saying that the movie is very polarizing and you'll either end up hating the film or loving it. I find myself in the "loving it" camp. The same review had also mentioned that Darren had given a press release explaining that this was his fever dream in response to climate change deniers and what not. And I think having that preface did help. I think if you go in thinking this is just some standard, twisty horror film (which the trailers do kind of make it out to be) then it would be easy to go "What the heck is going on" especially when the second half goes balls to the wall crazy. Knowing the whole film is this allegory helps to connect the dots and pick up on things.
Visually, the film is stunning. Because the film is so divisive, I don't know if its going to be much of an awards contender. But in the very least I would love to see some noms and wins for cinematography, production design, special effects. Jennifer Lawrence also gives a tremendous performance. And...wow is it ever a brutal performance. They really put her through the ringer.
One negative I do have though is that the film doesn't settle on one tone. The first half is more subdued. It still very much has a thriller vibe, but its not very in your face and the second half (as I mentioned earlier) is just absolutely dialed up to the max. It almost feels like with the snap of a finger the entire tone changes.
Overall, I thought the film was really interesting. And it was thought provoking. For sure, I don't think the film is going to be for everyone. There are some scenes that are quite shocking to watch. But for me, it was so different than a lot of films out there.
*I tried to keep my review as spoiler free as possible. Marked it as spoilers anyway in case anyone didn't know what Darren's intentions were with this film.