Red Sparrow is a 2018 spy-thriller film directed by Francis Lawrence who worked with Jennifer Lawrence (the star here) on a couple of the Hunger Games movies, but this is a very different beast. Jennifer Lawrence plays Dominika Egorova (in, it has to be said, a not entirely convincing Russian accent), and Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenarts and Charlotte Rampling star as the film's secondary characters. This one is a pretty big departure from what Lawrence has done in the past, although it has to be said that she's making some pretty bold career choices. I'm not the first one to say that, and for a good reason: it's true. After last year's Mother! it appeared as if she was trying purposefully trying to appear in more "mature" films, and believe me, it doesn't get much more mature than Red Sparrow. The film plays out like one of those schlocky exploitation from the seventies, in that there's sexual violence, sex, violence, torture, and all manner o
Mindhunter is a 2017 American crime drama TV series based on the true crime novel Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit. It was produced by David Fincher and Charlize Theron, and Fincher himself directed a lot of the episodes. The main character is agent Holden Ford, a motivated and curious FBI agent who believes psychopaths can be identified and treated before they can commit any crimes.
I won't be reviewing a lot of TV on this blog, but the reason I chose to cover this one is because, of course, David Fincher was heavily involved. But that's not the only reason. Mindhunter feels incredibly cinematic, and I'd even go as far as to say that it needs to be seen on the TV, as opposed to a laptop, for you to get the full effect of it. Also, although it was written by Joe Penhall, the series is topically similar to some of David Fincher's films in some ways, especially Zodiac and The Social Network. I know it seems odd to compare this and The Social Network, but you'll know what I mean if you see it.
Mindhunter is impeccably acted. Jonathan Groff, who plays Holden Ford, and Anna Torv (Wendy Carr) were by far the best. The way Groff's character changes throughout the story, and the way his performance changes throughout the program is honestly astonishing. By the end, I was left sitting there with my jaw going slack from how seamless he transitioned from the beginning to the end. On top of that, the actors who play the serial killers in the film (they portray people like Edmund Kemper and Richard Speck, both real serial killers) are brilliant. The scenes with these characters are some of the most chillings things I've seen on TV in years. To be clear, there is very little actual violence on screen in Mindhunter; the scares come from what the serial killers describe, and how they describe it. I think they're scenes which are really going to stick in my memory for a long time.
This is not TV which is specifically about shocks and scares, though. It's intelligent and ambitious, and as it nears the end, it only becomes more thought-provoking. It will make you reconsider your current notions about the FBI and the way criminals are handled, and not in the way you would expect. I don't want to say any more than that, because it might spoil the effect of it for people.
Mindhunter is David Fincher at his very best, and his directorial style suits itself perfectly to Joe Penhall's script. This is the best thing I've seen on TV since Breaking Bad, and I really hope it finds its audience, because it is astonishingly good. I loved Mindhunter, but the best thing about it is that we're going to get more.
Comments
Post a Comment