This film is set within a series of reference frames that are different to the ones within which I usually choose to operate, emotionally, psychologically, morally and intellectually. To be honest I really struggled with this film. I stuck it out until the beginning of the third tryptic and then I had to walk.
Without doubt this film is very clever and is as much about the vector of storytelling as it is the story that is told. Maybe it was simply beyond my intellectual grasp. The fact that it carries an 18 certification for violent and extended sexual activity but makes no mention of the physical and psychological violence that is a constant feature of the film, assumes a level of normal that I am not prepared to collude with.
The film is billed as a black comedy. I found nothing remotely comedic in it at all. In the first tryptic I found the portrayal of the need to be controlled and the need to control very disturbing. In the second tryptic the lack of sympathy for the husband was disappointing but as the story develops his behaviour becomes increasingly psychotic although there is always a sense that he is the only one seeing the true reality.
Perhaps I should have stuck it out and maybe the third tryptic unlocks a clear sense of meaning. However I didn't and what I'm left with is a dark exploration of the human need to control others and the human need to gain and express greater self-confidence. It is also about our innate need to be liked and the fear of rejection. Where the kindnesses came in depends on how you define being kind. I found no kindness that I recognised save perhaps in the self-sacrifice of Liz the wife in the second tryptic. There was no facility for saying so far but no further. Everything was always taken to the fullest extreme and perhaps in doing so reveals a side of human potential behaviour that scares me.
The acting performances are very strong. The same troupe playing different characters in the three related tryptics. Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley, Willem Dafoe, Hong Chau, Mamoudou Athie and Joe Alwyn reappear and deliver very convincing character studies - Plemons picking up best actor at Cannes where it premiered.
I would only advise seeing this if you have three hours to waste and are so thick-skinned that everything that has the potential to wound you simply bounces off. I'm sure it's top class cinema for those who have eyes to see but for me I'm happy I didn't have bad dreams after having seen it. I'll give it 3/10.
