He Went That Way

In 1964-based true-tale crime-drama "He Went That Way" mild-mannered down-on-his-luck chimpanzee handler Zachary Quinto picks up hitcher Jacob Elordi... who has deep psychological issues. Events escalate but the two (and Quinto's chimp) form an unlikely yet plausible bond (rubbing off on each other to an extent) as they travel Route 66, thru a series of largely dark encounters (with the likes of Troy Evans). Quinto & Elordi are terrific (no wonder the latter's a rising star), Evan M Wiener's screenplay is original & engaging, and Jeffrey Darling does a fine job bringing it all home in the only movie he ever directed before passing away (RIP). It's a tad different, but it's good.

I truly wish this would have been a movie inspired by the true story, rather than what they gave us. The trailer looked so fantastic and the cast is ofc stellar, so I was very excited to watch it, but the movie although building suspense and tension, did not really do much with said tension. This could have been a 10min beautiful Short, instead it was pretty much the same thematic thing happening again and again with very little change. Also, why the hell was this movie so full of homoerotic subtext that then didn't go anywhere? If the movie had actually done something with that, it might have been interesting. But it didn't. By the end I was very much left with the feeling of "That's...it?" Very unsatisfactory, which I think is due to it being based on a real story. Would have preferred this as either a documentary or a more liberal, inspired-by but not beholden-to kinda story. Fantastic visuals though and solid acting, especially from Zachery Quinto. Elordi was also good. I also liked the suspense that was build in it by smaller scenes, just wish it had gone somewhere better.

I could tell within the first 30 minute that this was written and directed by children who have no experience in real life. I would guess that their parent paid for their film school education, and they have watched a lot of movies, which they assume would give them the ability to make a movie of their own. But there is nothing original or interesting here. Sorry, boys, you failed. Your characters are false, your story is derivative, and the movie doesn't even have any style. It's such a shame that you wasted the efforts of decent actors like Zachary Quinto and Jacob Elordi. Time to give up filmmaking and find a real job. I hear Applebee's is hiring.

Truly original movie with a potential to become a cult classic. Beautifully acted and executed it keeps you on the edge with suspense and almost surrealism. There are so many side stories unfolding including inner complexes and complexities of the two leads and social cultural climate underlying. It sets a wonderfully fresh optics to the road story movies. The Spanky part of the Route 66 till the bitter end deserves honest debate on humans' treatment of animals as well as the entire circus business. This boutique movie proves once again that Jacob Elordi is a real cinematic gem. Zachary Quinto is also a very actor and brilliant again in this movie.

Never hearing of this being made and a surprise to see the cast involved, I was definitely disappointed in this watch. The story was very slow, the acting wasn't all there and I don't wanna even talk about Spanky. After a great run in 2023 with "Priscilla" and "Saltburn" I was excited to see the next performance from Jacob Elordi, but this sadly was not one of his best. Leaving Patrick J. Adams to be my favourite part of this film, even with the minor screen time.

I've always been a sucker for crime/thriller films, and after reading the plot summary I was intrigued. But this was very far from a thriller with any suspense, not a single time did I feel nervous for any characters on screen.

Overall probably one of the worst of the entire year and we've just started.