Thoroughbreds (2017)

Spoiler Alert: The article contains a picture and some information that could prove to be a spoiler so proceed with caution.When someone says that a film is like Heathers meets American Psycho then why would I not want to watch said film. Heathers is one of the best dark comedy films surrounding high school themed films ever made and American Psycho introduced us to a different type of killer. So for today's film, I have decided that it was time to check out 2017's Thoroughbreds which was advertised as one of Anton Yelchin's (Green Room) last films. The movie stars Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) as Lily, a normal upper class suburban kid who once again befriends someone she hasn't talked to in years. That friend would be Amanda (Olivia Cooke), another upper class girl with a lot of issues that not many people understand and she doesn't have a lot of friends, but Lily and her get close. Lily has a problem on her hands and that problem is that her step dad (Paul Sparks) is a bit of an A-hole and she wants him dead. So, Amanda suggests that they ask the very troubled Tim (Yelchin) to do the job for them, but will he do it and if he does will he be successful? The film also stars Francie Swift (Two Weeks Notice) as Cynthia, Kaili Vernoff (Crisis In Six Scenes) as Karen, Jackson Damon (Manchester By The Sea) as Phil, and the film was written and directed by Cory Finley (Bad Education).

This film was definitely a slow burn as it builds and builds with some tension, but overall I have to say that I kind of enjoyed the film. Olivia Cooke does an awesome job playing someone who is just so disconnected from themselves that they don't feel emotions any longer and that can be dangerous. They struggle with friendships because they don't feel the usual emotions that come with forming bonds and Lily learns to take full advantage of it because it will benefit her in the long run. I am not so sure I can see a total connection with the films I mentioned above other than the fact that it deals with death and teenagers. I guess the American Psycho connection could be that they identified Amanda with Patrick Bateman and even then she's not as charismatic as he was. Anton's part was a little interesting as he plays a small time drug dealer who once went to jail for having sex with an underage girl and he only deals drugs for teenagers. He's kind of going nowhere, but I think he re-evaluates his life choices after dealing with those two. The acting is very good especially from Paul Sparks who has minimal dialogue in the film, but his actions speak louder than his words and when he does speak he makes it count. The overall tone of the film is dark and brooding which allows for some good cinematography and I definitely feel that the film is worth one watch as it i a dark tale. So with that being said, I am going to give the film an B for a final grade.