Director: Cory Finley
By Alex Watson
A chillingly dark yet utterly bold comedic effort, director Cory Finley has created one of the more offbeat efforts of 2018. With a pair of superb turns from British actresses Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke, Thoroughbreds is an absorbing picture about two girls who are emotional polar opposites. While it struggles to keep its composure towards the end, Finley has created a world which feels completely original.
Amanda (Olivia Cooke) is a teenager with an unexplained psychological condition and because of this, she has no feelings whatsoever. Reuniting with her old school friend Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy), the pair at first sift through awkward teen bonding, until Amanda suggest something radical. Lily's step-father Mark is both physically and emotionally abusive to her and her in-denial mother (Kaili Vernoff). To deal with the problem, Amanda proposes they kill Mark.
There is a jet black and almost dreamy feel to Thoroughbreds from the moment we lay eyes upon the glamorous and affluent Connecticut where Lily resides. Amanda is not that far removed wealth wise but she is most definitely an outcast due to her being blunt and having no filter. Forced to bond by their parents under the guise of SAT prep, after badly and repeatedly lying, Lily eventually confesses to being paid to do this favour. Amanda has been become the source of community gossip after brutally euthanizing her family's prized but sick horse. Watching her describe the act in such gory details and with such little emotion gives us all a chill. What starts as an uncomfortable reunion soon turns into an unconventional friendship. Although we can help but wonder what will happen once one of them is forced to take action.
Although Lily lives the rich life, her step-father continually proves that sometimes money only masks the bigger problems. He is rude, obnoxious and scarily obsessed with keep fitting. On their first meeting, he makes no attempt to cover his irritation that a strange girl like Amanda has entered his domain. When it comes to Lily, he is blatantly cruel and doesn't care about masking it. Amanda quickly figures that killing him would solve all their problems. Their plot to be rid of him also introduces hilarious side story of the ambitious but completely inept drug dealer Tim (the late Anton Yelchin in his final role). While he brags to high heaven about one day being the main man, he is, in reality, a lonely, social awkward creep who deals drugs to kids. However, there is a humanity to this character that makes him likeable and ironically he is one of the key components of their plan.
As it progresses, the already dark tone of Thoroughbreds gets progressively darkened. The technical aspects are partly to thank for this, particularly the wonderful Steadicam work by DP Lyle Vincent. Freely gliding through different rooms of Lily's home, Vincent makes us feel like we are stepping further and further into a labyrinth. Lily and Amanda are engaged in a movie-length game of mental chess. Amanda is most certainly the more confident and strong of the two and throughout Finley's movie, her former friend is always trying to get a read on her. Their exchanges are always stifled and tense ones and underneath the coat of gloss Lily is a sly and manipulative soul and there is a coldness that would probably spook a Frost Giant on Game of Thrones.
Both Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke are superb in their roles as the potential killers. Cooke, in particular, is the master of one-liners and although she plays a girl who is a borderline psychopath, she also gives her a loyalty and heart that most would struggle to convey. Taylor-Joy plays the picture perfect preppy teen girl but gives her a wonderful sinister undertone. Throughout she looks like a porcelain doll whose skin is about to crack from the constant pressure. Paul Sparks (best known for his stints of TV's House of Cards and Boardwalk Empire) plays the antagonist role to perfection and makes for a wonderful tyrannical father figure. Its also provides a great last role for Anton Yelchin who as loser Tim is scene-stealingly great- just a shame such a promising talent was lost so early.
Thoroughbreds a movie whose tone may not suit everyone, but you cannot deny this is a fine piece of independent cinema.
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