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.

Movies based on true stories always have my preference, certainly if it's about true crime and serial killers. I had never heard about this story before though, so it was a surprise. They probably embellished the whole story a bit so it felt more fiction than non-fiction. I really doubt that it went like this. That said it was pleasant to watch, mostly because of the good acting from Jacob Elordi and Zachary Quinto. The chimpanzee looked a bit fake but overall it was okay. Not a lot of action considering it's about a serial killer, and a rather slow pace, but still good enough due to the good acting.

Why is the serial killer always sucking on his thumb? It's weird.. he has no likeable qualities at all.. He is just a terrible character all around. During the entire movie, all that I cared about was seeing that chimp away from that psycho. Come to find out, ol the chimp is a human actor, which makes it even more odd. At this point I'm just writing because I still need 228 characters to write.. What else? The serial killer has about two brain cells. He's a creep. It's a slow burn, I had to skip through some of it. Ok, 80 more characters.. there isn't much left to say, I'm in the middle of the movie and it looks like they might become friends.

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.