zampino-2

There's much to enjoy in this movie, which paints a colorful and fashionable future as a dystopia of wealth and lower classes through the eyes of four young women at the mercy of their families. The obvious appeal is visual, from couture costuming, makeup and hair styles, to interesting cinematography and visual effects; for Alice Waddington's first time as director she managed to tie those elements together in a way that maintains interest, and keeps the plot succinctly controlled. Solid performances from Awkwafina, Danielle Macdonald, Milla Jovovich, and Danielle Macdonald keep the audience engaged, and Emma Roberts is eccentrically interesting, though her character confuses.

I like the overall plot concept, which reminds of Stepford Wives with a sci fi twist that has a good level of plausibility. However, a secondary inexplicable "supernatural" layer mars what could have been the more believable story line, and the last 10 minutes either need a lot of additional information for the viewer or, in my opinion, should have been cut completely. While the end adds "excitement" to the finale, for this viewer, it was a futile attempt to add a blockbuster fantasy element that was completely unnecessary. That doesn't make the movie less interesting in the end, and the last moments of the film tie back to the start making a reasonably satisfying story arc. I would have enjoyed learning more about the class distinctions in this society, which would have been far more interesting than spending time on the baffling plot lines aforementioned.

Generally speaking, a movie worth watching; it's a pity the movie didn't have good US distribution; and I'll keep an eye out for Waddington's next.

Taken from the perspective of Bolden's asylum residency and the reflections of his life, success, frustration and failure, I found the movie at times restless, but overall very interesting. The period sets, costuming, and social tension make the movie work, as the shards of his life and his ambition dovetail into his ultimate failure and loss. In reality, little is known of his music or the facts of his life, but his influence was profound and shaped jazz (jass) music. To do Bolden justice I would be happy to see a proper documentary, but if this movie keeps his accomplishments in our culture's mind then it was a good endeavor. Now go read his Wikipedia page, and listen to some early King Oliver or Louis Armstrong records!