Miserable & Tedious, Style Over Substance

Rating: 3/10 (29 January 2019)

It is self evident a great deal of attention and planning went into this movie, ultimately my review is based on how the movie moved me and how the execution of the script was realised on the screen.
My conclusion is this was ultimately style over substance, it pretended to greatness but fell short on so many levels. I will detail the main failings in order;
-the use of a wide lens became wearing on the eye and the constant looking up at the characters without variation became tedious
-Anne as an Oscar vehicle had insufficient lines or facets of personality to show depth and character development.
-the movie was unrelentingly miserable and cruel, I am not clear why.
-they were all self-serving but seemingly without sufficient motivation for their actions.
-there was no character definition, any of the lines could have come out of anyone's mouth.
-there was just insufficient story to sustain a movie and what there was remained unresolved.
-the lesbian relationships were degraded to merely jostling for power, this was shallow and petty.
-the ending was abrupt and merely suggested Abigail was revealed for the schemer she was to Anne.
-the music jarred and was repetitive in some sections
I would add there was a steady steam of people walking out of the auditorium who thought is was certainly not their favourite.
How can this even be nominated for an Oscar when compared to The Shape of Water or Three Billboards, last years offerings.