Anti-climactic

Rating: 7/10 (13 May 2019)

There is a certain calmness that haunts Yorgos Lanthimos' works I quite enjoy. He uses the silence and drone music very well. Even though The Lobster (2015) was bit of a disappointment, Dogtooth (2009) was a beautiful film. I hope he makes more Greek-language films. I was surprised he attempted such a British film with this one. I would not have expected a period piece especially an English period piece from Lanthimos. Nevertheless, I think this is a well-made film. There are only a few moments where I was put off, where I lost my concentration. Even though I love drone and ambient music, the J-cuts he used along with these sounds were a bit too long. They could have been shorter for a more dramatic impact. Also, the film should definitely have been longer. The ending was anti-climactic, matter of fact the whole film was kind of monotonous. Not that there is anything wrong with that but the subject of the film demanded a bit of epic-ness I believe. The story is heavy on its own, the beginning was very big and symphonic but that faded away quickly towards the end of the first act. If only the film had studied the story more, and experimented less with superimpositions and drone/ambient soundtrack it would have been a more effective film. The plot was very weak when compared to the idea of the film.