Serenity | Film Review

Hey Guys x

This is a Sky Cinema original movie, and after hearing the description of the film, and knowing who starred in it, I was so interested and excited to see it.

Fisherman Baker Dill (Matthew McConaughey) lives an idyllic life. That is, until his ex-wife, Karen (Anne Hathaway) finds him and give him a proposition - 10 million dollars to kill the man who is putting her and their son in danger. Suddenly, Baker Dill's idyllic life plunges into darkness, and he has to decide how much he is willing to sacrifice for the people he loves.

I was so disappointed while watching it, and that disappointment has hit me all over again as I relive what I thought would be a really good film.

Before I get into the bad things, though, I have to say that visually, the film is stunning. The locations, cinematography, everything about it in this sense is beautiful.

In addition to that, there are some really good moments of tension. Some moments genuinely have you on the edge of your seat because you literally have no idea what's about to happen. And if it had stayed like this, like how the description advertises it, it probably would have been great.

But then, there were the bad things.

The first bad thing, unfortunately, comes in the form of Anne Hathaway's performance (which I'm pretty sure is down to the way that the film was directed rather than to her, as she is an amazing actress).

Her first appearance in the film is, in a word, cringe-worthy. From the camera placement and shot, to her speech, to the way she's talking (almost like a cartoon character), it doesn't seem real at all. And after getting to the end of the film, I do acknowledge that this was probably intentional due to the twist, but that doesn't make it any less weird.
Speaking of weird, there's also a really weird, unnecessary sex scene. Before knowing the twist, you kind of understand it. You wonder if one character is manipulating another, or if they're both in love, or if it's going to move the story forward. But after knowing the twist... it's just gross.

Now, without spoilers, the rest of this review will be dedicated to the twist, because this was the most disappointing thing about the whole film.

If the film was a straightforward thriller about a man who has to decide whether or not to kill someone in order to protect his family, it would have been amazing. It had amazing actors, a great location, and the first half was really good - it made it seem like this was the direction that the film was going in.

And then the twist came.

The twist completely lowered the stakes of the film. Because of it, you no longer have a reason to care about what happens, because nothing matters. This undoes all of the good work that the first half of the movie did.

I'm usually a huge fan of films with major twists, and on paper, the idea isn't that bad. I understand the intention behind it, and appreciate how original and thought-provoking it is. But in reality, it just didn't work.

Overall, this film will probably appeal to some more than others, but I wasn't a huge fan at all.

4/10

Lou