I Don't Care Enough To Care Enough About What's Happening

Rating: 4/10 (13 March 2019)

It's totally unfair for me to even review this title as I started watching fully intending to not like it, and I haven't even finished watching. Also, having just read the wide variance in reviews, there's not much in my reaction to what I'm seeing that varies from a lot of others who didn't care for this.
Except I'm not seeing this as an anti-drug movie in any way. I did have those original reactions, like this was just a more styleized version of anti-school specials, but that's not accurate here, because the director doesn't seem to be making any real anti-drug statement. All we're doing here is watching people we never really started to care about descend into a state where the only entertainment factor becomes lurid, prurient, and sadistic.
So, unless I'm easily manipulated into caring about characters that don't seem real to me, or even if they did, I wouldn't care about, all that's left is going to the freakshow. And I guess I've never found that entertaining.
What I do find lacking from this movie, to its credit, is the mean-spirited, taking of pleasure in the misfortune and suffering of others I've found in the works of other directors like Todd Solendz, Larry Clark, or Harmony Korine. But I'm not convinced showing putrid aspects of human nature equates with honesty in any real way.
These just aren't characters I care about. I like some of the style going on here. I enjoy the baseline of the women in chairs in front of the building providing a hum drum contrast to what happens to the main characters. It's not a total botch by any means, but I don't find it all that profound or insightful, even when compared to better movies about the topic of drug abuse itself.
Maybe the second half will change my mind.