Thoroughbreds (Cory Finley, 2016): USA

Reviewed by Markus Linecker. Viewed at the AFI Filmfest 2017.

Thoroughbreds is a film about two girls, Amanda and Lily. Amanda’s mom pays Lily to hang out with Amanda because of Amanda’s psychological scarring from killing her sick horse herself. Amanda makes fun of Lily for getting paid to hang out with her, psycho that she is. Lily’s stepfather is trying to push Lily out of the house into a boarding school because she got kicked out of school for plagiarism. With the carelessness of upper-class people, exemplified in stories since Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby, Amanda and Lily team up and plot to kill him off.

The girls try to hire the local drug-dealer and crook who is in and out of jail (Anton Yelchin in his final role), blackmailing him so he will make the hit for them. Even though Yelchin does not have much screen-time, he is a driving factor of the story because it shows how the two girls turn off their consciences in moving forward with their plan. Amanda, played by Olivia Cooke, comes off as cold, uncaring, and in her own little world, but this is challenged as she interacts with the other two characters. Lily flips roles with Amanda from the innocent in the beginning to a darkness that is unexpected. It is this change that makes the twist so captivating.

Lyle Vincent’s photography stands out as smooth and perfectly shot, with beautiful tracking shots and lighting that creates the wealthy and painful lives of the two girls. Cory Finley directs his first feature film, self-written, with obviously well-thought-through characters, almost too perfectly aligned between cinematography, writing, character development, music, and lighting. It somewhat lacks the funky notes such as jazz pulls on, to break up the impact of this symbiosis at times. However, it is a fascinating teen perspective on a murder drama, and is quite a fun flick.