Starring: Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgård, Robert Pattison
Director: Antonio Campos
Released: 2020
Genre: Crime/ Drama/ Thriller
Rating: 18
This Netflix film based on the 2011 novel sharing the same title, is definitely not for the faint hearted.
Starring Tom Holland, Bill Skargård, Robert Pattison and Sebastian Stan just to name a few, this film follows many different peoples stories, throughout different moments in time. Although the film is quite long it is definitely interesting and keeps you captivated the whole way through.
The film could easily be split into to halves and for a portion of it, you feel as though you could be watching a different movie entirely, however when it all links together it is incredibly satisfying.
One thing I noticed about this film, is how much comparison is used. We follow some of Willard’s life and then the life of his son Arvin when he is older. There were many times throughout the film that particular scenes seemed familiar, really indicating how much Arvin was like his father, who he still had a lot of resentment towards. Some examples of comparison is how both Arvin and Willard act when Emma takes them to church and there is a preach from the new pastor, they both are not as entertained as anyone else, having very cold faces and not wanting to be there. Another is when coming home from work, they both come home the same way, seated in a corner, keeping themselves to themselves. There are also two separate scenes where Willard and Arvin go back to get revenge on people who have done them wrong, again showing similarities. Another shot of Arvin with a black eye is also in comparison to when he was younger and gained a black eye from bullies at school.
Although all of the performances in this were incredible, one that really stood out to me was Tom Holland who played Arvin. This film gave us an excuse to see a completely different side to Holland than the friendly neighbourhood Spiderman we have all come to know and love, and honesty I feel this is one of his best performances to date. His character is quiet, tough and has a very tough exterior, but is always there for his family and would do anything for them. I really hope we get to see Holland appear in more roles like this as I think he fits it very well and is clearly a very diverse actor capable of taking on such a challenging role. He makes us feel for Arvin, an orphan who leads a quiet life. Whilst also showing us he can defend himself and stand his ground.
A scene that really stood out to me was closer to end of the film where Arvin has been picked up by Carl and Sandy and they pull off to the side of the road, ready to take him as their next victim. This is the first time we have seen one of their plans fully in action and how it actually plays out as usually they are all set up and the victim is just there. However as the audience clicks on to what it happening, so does Arvin and the scene soon becomes very climactic, seeing the end of two characters that have been appearing in the film since the start. We are routing for Arvin and are keen to see what his next steps are.
Some other small things I noticed that I just wanted to add in are
- The music in the scene, always subtly links to what is happening in the scene, or what a character is going through.
- Whenever Arvin is at his home in Knockemstiff, a dog can usually be heard barking, this is representation of his dog Jack who was the last ‘person’ Arvin confided in.
- When Arvin is younger, the narrator states he was the only person on the bus not related to someone in the town. This is a vast difference when he ends up being the one to link all the storylines together and has something to do with all of our main characters.
- I also particularly liked that there was a narrator, I feel it added another needed layer to the story. (The narrator also happened to be the author of the original novel Donald Ray Pollock)
Overall I would recommend this film, it is available on Netflix right now.
Thanks for reading, let me know in the comments if you’ve seen the film and what your opinions are.
Cinema & Chapters by Peggy 