Sunday, August 18, 2019
The Nightingale Review: Stick To Horror Babadook Creator
The worst revenge thriller in a long time. This is the new film written and directed by Jennifer Kent of Babadook fame. A movie I truly loved and felt was going to usher in a new age of horror alongside It Follows. It created a new boogeyman and due to a mess-up in a Netflix algorithm created a gay cultural icon. Well, we sure ain't in a new era of horror. This film fails to live up to the hype of the first film from Kent and will probably not become a trans icon by some fun mistake. Oddly, the same goes for It Follows' David Robert Mitchell, whose second film, a none horror movie, was a mess too.
If both of them stuck to horror we wouldn't have this problem, but they both thought they were better than they were and they're not. They can be directors of cinematography or 1st AD's, but they shouldn't be allowed to make another film unless it's scary.
(Spoilers)
Join an Irish immigrant out for revenge as she's raped and her whole family is killed in front of her only to disconnect with her almost immediately when you're reminded that she's a racist. And also everyone's racist and sucks. Carol and Billy, our duo of the woman who sucks at getting revenge and an indigenous Black Australian tracker team up to hunt down the three army man that ruined her life. Director Jennifer than tries to shoe horn in our duo becoming friends and how racist it was back in early Australia, while revenge takes a back seat. Que some nightmares and delusions that Carol has, which shows Jennifer Kent should have just made a horror movie. Then a baffling display of emotional problems stop our main character from killing the people who have ruined her life and keep putting Billy in danger. Carol is like one of the worst friends to ever team-up with. The ending will leave you unsatisfied even if revenge is gotten.
The second film from Kent will be an easily forgotten film trying way too hard to explain the brutality of Australia being colonized, instead of the revenge thriller I thought it was going to be. And maybe that's on me, but still, it's a lot to try and pull off in your second major release.
Oh, and our lead character sings. Really not that important to the story.