jimcheva

A good part of this so follows a formula that it felt like a Hallmark movie. What saves it early on is the charm of the two leads, who are gently believable together. The gallery is a nice touch too. The formulaic progress stutters a little, stopping and starting in disconcerting ways. Then it seems to settle into a predictable flow and even hits the required obstacle. But the way it comes back (per custom) is awkward and then new obstacles are, if anything, maddening, raising larger issues which never quite feel resolved and leading to some real problems of pacing for the rest of the journey. But there is enough real humanity and feeling to make much of it engaging. Pleasant enough, but not quite satisfying.

The film recalls a number of others, not only the obvious "Mr. Ripley" echoes, which take time to emerge, but hints of "The Go-between" and no doubt films on queer crushes I haven't even seen. One issue is the film spends FAR too much time at the school, when in fact the real drama doesn't develop until later. Once on the estate, the way Oliver is treated as a kind of audience/pet is what recalls "The Go-between". The satire on the upper class family variously echoes "Downton Abbey" and "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie". Once the real violence emerges, it becomes so relentless it really doesn't maintain any suspense. Oliver's fascination with Felix outlines a whole intense homoerotic thread that is almost separate from what proves to be the real story, and includes one really striking and explicit homage. There is a certain beauty to the portrayal of an upper class family shattered by grief continuing to cling to its most formal and superficial discourse. This would be hilarious if the situation wasn't so tragic. If all this seems all over the place, touching on different themes and styles, well so it is, making the film at times hard to stick with, at times mechanically predictable.

This film manages to feel predictable and over-familiar for a very long time before veering into out of the blue violence (natural and supernatural) with a few screaming fits that might be orgasmic or might represent terror. There is various play with doubles and some true horror-style imagery, though that manages to be almost marginal relative to the relation ship dramas which are the main focus of the film. I found all the potentially terrifying/thrilling elements so randomly intercut with ones that might simply fit into an Ingmar Bergman study of relationships that I couldn't see if I was supposed to be sympathizing with the emotional situation or stunned by some of the more extreme imagery. Even the ending left me confused. In the end, it just wasn't a satisfying ride.