Suburbicon | Film Review

Hey Guys x

When this film came out in cinema, I remember having a vague interest based on the fact that I'm a huge fan of Matt Damon. But the trailer and description didn't grab my attention enough to actually want to see it. However, it got added to Netflix recently, so I thought I'd watch it and see what it was all about.

Suburbicon is an idyllic neighbourhood where everything is completely perfect. However, that changes when a new family moves in next door, and the neighbours of Suburbicon reveal the true extent of their racial prejudices. But with everyone focused on the new family, they miss the evil that resides right under their noses.

To be honest, I didn't really like the film, for a plethora of reasons that I'm about to explain.

At first, it feels like it's trying to tell two stories at once, but neither starts off thoroughly enough for you to try and understand how they link.

When the stories start to interweave, the film gets a lot more interesting. But then what happens is, because of a lack of commitment to the first (and arguably more interesting) story, it becomes forgotten altogether. Which is really a shame because the first story is a really intriguing plot point for the film.

In my opinion, the problem with putting so little into the first story is that, the issue of racial segregation to the extent that it is shown in the film is too big an issue to be given a background slot. It may have worked if both storylines were given equal attention, or if that storyline wasn't only used to further the plot of the other story.

Because to be honest, the main plot of the movie could have been told in its own right without needing a backdrop of a black family moving in down the road and being terrorised. It didn't really add anything to the main plot and felt a bit unnccessary, as many scenes of this film did.

It feels weird to cite racial tension as a plot point of a movie where the black family (aka the protagonists of the racial tension storyline) are only shown on screen for about 5 minutes of a 1hr 40 minute movie, and only the mother gets more than 2/3 lines.

Not only is the film a bad social commentary, but putting that aside and focusing on the main storyline, it's also just a really bad murder mystery. It's not a particularly interesting story, it's not written particularly well, there's no real element of surprise, it's really unrealistic and without the aspect of the racial tension, it's nothing new.

Having said that, Noah Jupe is the undisputed star of the movie. I've seen him in other movies before (Wonder, A Quiet Place) and he's always been amazing, but I think I'm right in thinking that this is the first time he's been the main character, and he did an amazing job.

There were also some really great moments of mystery and tension, especially in the beginning when you had no idea what was going on. I guess, unlike a lot of murder mysteries, the reveal actually ruined the movie rather than making it better.

Overall, I came away from the movie wondering what the director was trying to say when he made it, because I don't feel like I got anything from it. But it's on Netflix, so see for yourself!

3.5/10

Lou