Genre: Thriller
Directed by Olivia Wilde
Produced by Olivia Wilde, Katie Silberman, Miri Yoon, Roy Lee
Screenplay by Katie Silberman, Carey Van Dyke, Shane Van Dyke
Story by Carey Van Dyke, Shane Van Dyke, Katie Silberman
Starring: Harry Styles, Florence Pugh, Olivia Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll & Chris Pine.
Edited by Jennifer Lame, Affonso Gonçalves, Andrew Leven
Music by John Powell
Cinematography: Matthew Libatique
Production Companies: New Line Cinema, Vertigo Entertainment
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
The plot: Alice and Jack are lucky to be living in the idealized community of Victory, the experimental company town housing the men who work for the top-secret Victory Project and their families. The 1950s societal optimism espoused by their CEO, Frank–equal parts corporate visionary and motivational life coach–anchors every aspect of daily life in the tight-knit desert utopia. While the husbands spend every day inside the Victory Project Headquarters, working on the “development of progressive materials,” their wives–including Frank’s elegant partner, Shelley–get to spend their time enjoying the beauty, luxury, and debauchery of their community. Life is perfect, with every resident’s needs met by the company. All they ask in return is discretion and unquestioning commitment to the Victory cause. But when cracks in her idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something much more sinister lurking beneath the attractive façade, Alice can’t help questioning exactly what they’re doing in Victory, and why. Just how much is Alice willing to lose to expose what’s really going on in this paradise?
I was intrigued by this movie.
This Movie was a letdown.
Pros: The performances of Florence Pugh and surprisingly Harry Styles were engaging enough. I got into the drama aspect of the movie. The movie managed to not make me doze off and the storyline had its hits and misses.
Cons: The storytelling tended to break apart by the midway point of the film. It failed to capture the subject matter of paranoia properly. I didn’t like what happened in the final act of the movie it was very predictable.
Cast & Characters:
- Florence Pugh as Alice Chambers, a young, devoted housewife
- Harry Styles as Jack Chambers, Alice’s workaholic husband
- Olivia Wilde as Bunny, Alice’s best friend
- Gemma Chan as Shelley, Frank’s wife
- KiKi Layne as Margaret
- Nick Kroll as Bill, Bunny’s husband
- Chris Pine as Frank, Shelley’s husband, Jack’s boss, and the founder of the “Victory Project”
- Sydney Chandler as Violet
- Kate Berlant as Peg
- Asif Ali as Peter
- Douglas Smith as John
- Timothy Simons as Dr. Collins
- Ari’elStachel as Kevin
- Dita Von Teese as Gigi
- Sagar Sujata as James
- Marcello Julian Reyes as Fred
- Mariah Justice as Barbara
I recommend giving this film a chance hoping people might like this film more than I do.
Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Ryan Balkwill:
Resident film reviewer,
Level Best Art Cafe.