First thing’s first: the soundtrack is the star of this film. It is so clever in how the music dances a waltz with the film, in truly the best way. The music cues come in at the perfect moments, especially with songs like It’s Raining Men, the string cover ofToxic that was elaborated on in the film’s trailer, and the Paris Hilton song I don’t know the title of. Carey Mulligan gives a performance I’ve never seen her give before. It was great to see another side of her. Bo Burnham is pitch perfect as always. Alfred Molina was a nice suprise, but at times it felt like he was bit over the top (still he was great in the role). For that matter the assembly of the cast is phenomenal, with so many talents appearing for even the slightest bit of screen time. I only wish Molly Shannon had been in it more, because I love a serious Molly Shannon (like in OTHER PEOPLE). Similar to SUMMER OF ‘84, this film does an interesting thing structurally by not ending when you think it will and giving the story a 4th act with a complete perspective shift that says a lot, not only about the themes the film was exploring up to that point, but also about the cost of the everything that happened. I had issues with how the story was told at times. It felt very overt, but also I think that’s part of the style of the film. These things happen so overtly and we as a society have let it happen and fester for so long. The overall look of the film was so fun and the bright colors and style were perfectly aligned with the story. Some shots were a little too stylized for my taste, but I am really excited to see what Emerald Fennell does next, because she has such a unique, sharp, and fun personality.
