Astute, austere, and technically marvelous

Rating: Null/10 (19 December 2015)

This was not what I expected, but perhaps that's why it was so talked about and loved by many. A contemplative, quiet thriller that is technically marvelous. It starts off really solid, but it's only as it keeps going that it really grabs you and shakes you in a powerful way. On the surface, I was ready to call its main flaw being its thin screenplay, but it's definitely in its third act where everything seems to pay off in terms of what it was doing and how it was altering expectations of some sort. I don't think the reveal of Del Toro and Brolin is surprising, but it also didn't seem to go entirely like I had assumed it would It reminds me a lot of Drive in terms of its mood being its primary strength and the reason its screenplay seems to come full circle by the end. Like I said, visually marvelous without calling attention to itself. Its assured editing, score, and cinematography probably make it a stand-out in each of those categories. I don't think there are many more films as carefully-drawn as this one this past year. Del Toro should have been in contention for more awards and for an Oscar nomination, and Emily Blunt's "Quiet, strong action heroine type", although it's threatening to become a cliché by this point, is to its full effect here. I liked Incendies and Prisoners well enough (although the latter's screenplay drag it down quite a bit), but last year Villeneuve really showed his directorial skills, and they're just heightened here in his best film yet