Thoroughbreds (Corey Finley, 2017): USA

Reviewed by: Juliana Carbon Viewed at: AFI FEST 2017

Thoroughbreds, from the overly emotional Jill, played by the ever talented Anya Taylor-Joy, to the emotionless Amanda, portrayed by the comical yet terrifying Olivia Cooke, shows the chilling and possibly disastrous consequences of intermixing between sides that don’t normally interact, resulting in what I believe is modern thriller cinema’s next big thing. The film follows the stories of two upper class Connecticut girls, one notably more upper class than the other, who become unlikely friends and hatch a plan for destruction. The story is set in the modern day, and while it seems as though Jill doesn’t have much she could want apart from her sprawling mansion and private school education, she picks up a tutoring job for Amanda, local high school student recently cast into isolation because of pictures circulating of a horse she seemingly brutally murdered. As it turns out, most of the kindness that Jill shows to Amanda initially only occurs on Amanda’s mother dime. After an argument that finally results in true honesty on Jill’s part, the relationship dynamic shifts irreversibly.

Despite some initial setbacks the two become some type of friends and the actions that ensue due to their connection are borderline heinous. Apart from the chilling and intriguing story, written by the brilliant playwright turned director Corey Finley, the style is where the story shines. From the gliding and theatrical camera movements to the percussive score reminiscent of Poe’s, The Tell Tale Heart, the style is what stands out, reminiscent of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s oscar winning best picture’s, Birdman, use of winding camera techniques throughout the set and drums to to reflect heartbeats. The original script was written for the stage and the theatrical over the top style is evident in everything from the opulence of Jill’s home to Ave Maria playing throughout the theater as Anton Yelch’s character, Tim, local wanna be drug dealer to high school students, enters into Jill’s lifestyle for the first time. As the story progresses, Jill’s stepfather Mark, portrayed by Paul Sparks, becomes idealized by the girls as the main driving force behind all of Jill’s misery. Olivia Cooke’s Amanda is a young girl with undiagnosable personality disorders that render her unable to feel emotions, and so Olivia Cooke somehow makes an incredibly powerful acting performance utilizing all of about 1 expressions, somehow becoming darkly comic at the same time. The film, for me, rests a lot upon the shoulders of the actresses at its center, and they do not carry the load lightly. They are what elevate the film from a good looking film with an interesting enough plot to a fantastic film that I highly recommend.

Overall, Thouroughbred’s marriage of traditional nuance and uncomfortable uneasiness makes for a must see film that is entertaining until the bitter end. While it can, at times, be seen to be almost too much, I think this is part of the style that Scott Cooper intended and makes for an incredible cumulative performance.