I'm not sure how else to put it, but this felt like kid's movie, a children's fairytale, something you'd stack next to Cinderella or Goldilocks, except made for adults. That mismatch created a weird disconnect for me. It's like a Disney movie, but with sexual tension... and when you mix Disney-style acting and innocence with horniness, just feels weird.
The story and themes also seemed like a mash-up of plots you've seen before, without adding anything new. Almost everything felt like a rehash of ideas other films have already executed better.
What saves it from being unbearable is that the movie seems somewhat self aware, vibes-wise. It never takes itself too seriously; you see that in the acting, the dialogue, and even the production design. At times, the whole thing looked like a music video extended. You know when an artist turns a 3 minute song into a 7 minute short film? Imagine if Sabrina Carpenter or Charli XCX made a 90 minute version of that. If that sounds appealing, this might be your movie.
I personally struggled to connect with it, especially with the messaging, which boiled down to "Man bad. Men hate women because secretly gay. Woman love woman." It felt like when actors become directors and make their passion project... except here it feels like a musician wrote a film between album releases.
The characters felt distant. You don't need to relate to a character's situation for a story to work, but you do need to feel something for them - and I didn't. It lacked that engaging quality, the kind that allows me to enjoy a gay romcom or a female-centered drama even though I'm neither; and didn't even seem interested in creating it. Like watching the Queen's gambit, I don't care about chess I loved that.
The weak portrayal of the male characters also undermined the female leads. They were so cartoonishly dumb and shallow. Like watching a superhero whose only adversaries are pathetic, there's no real tension or satisfaction in their victory. Here, the only male characters with any sense and morals(i.e. The guards), were relegated way into the background. Every male character with significant screen time/dialogue was not only unlikable, but also shallow, uninteresting, with paper thin personality. In contrast, the women were written with greater depth and intelligence, which made the film's central conflicts feel unbalanced and unconvincing. Like that's who's beating you?
It brought to mind Kang the Conqueror being beat by ants, but in reverse; a victory feels hollow when the opposition is so clearly inferior. There are stories where the "oppressed by the lesser" trope works, like King Kong in chains, Eleven in Stranger Things, the Iron Giant, Samson, Mystique in X-Men; but in those cases the antagonists have actual leverage. Here, the men don't; they're just literal idiots. Made their role as oppressors feel implausible and dramatically inert. So the "victories" feel underwhelming.
I didn't necessarily hate the film, but I also didn't enjoy it. The only thing that kept it tolerable was that it didn't take itself too seriously.
Still, I was massively disappointed especially after waiting in a long line for the letterboxd screening. Luckily, I saw 2 movies last night and the other was much better, so the trip to the theater wasn't a total waste. Honestly should've just gone home after "The Holiday."
