Looks That Kill

This is a quirky little movie that seems like it's gonna be super light hearted and fun YA ride, but as the story moves along and you connect with the characters, Director Kellen Moore really hits the emotion button hard and packs in a surprising amount of heart into the final chapters of the film. Really enjoyed the watch!

This film turned out to be better than I expected. Although it is far from perfect and has some problems, I absolutely love the characters and the fresh twist of humour. It is a refreshing film that is very different from the others. I love the ending and felt the overall message was conveyed very well. I've rated this film a little higher than what I would have normally given it, but because of it's refreshing concept and good writing (more so for the characters but the plot is also very good) it has earned itself an 8/10.

Was caught by surprise by this one. Looking at the poster I went in thinking it was gonna a broad teen comedy, and although the movie does have some lighthearted comedy to it (mainly from the supporting characters) the overall direction of the movie is actually quite dramatic despite its apparent lighthearted subject matter. It took me a second to catch-on, but luckily the two leads (Flynn and Telles) are truly very strong and carry the dramatic moments with ease. The script is very clever in how it takes an absurd concept of a Boy who can kill people with his looks, and uses that to explore seriously dramatic undertones of death with dignity; it's a super thin-line to walk, but first time director Kellen Moore straddles the line between absurdity and drama very well in my opinion. Overall Moore creates a fun world filled with a wide variety of unusual characters, but don't let the poster fool you, this is more of a drama than a comedy.

TL;DR: If you've loved The Fault in Our Stars and the sorts, you can't miss this; if you (like myself) hated it, you should still give this one a chance - you might be pleasantly surprised.

Whenever I finish a movie, the first thing I do is to check online for reviews; I like to see other people's opinion about it, wheter they agree with mine or not. It makes for an enriching experience.

So imagine my surprise when, coming here after watching this movie, I found out that not only there's not a single review about it, but also so few people have seen (the vote count as I'm writing is only at 177)! I mean, really? This is by no means a B movie (which usually have ten times as many ratings), and it's already been three days since it was released. For such a delightfully charming one, it's too much of an injustice, so here's my attempt to repair that a tiny bit.

Watching the trailer you might be tricked into thinking this is a silly YA rom-com, and sure enought I begins that way. But it soon goes from silly to charming, from charming to heartbreaking... don't get me wrong, at its heart this is still very much a YA rom-com, with all of it's clichés and pitfalls, nothing groundbreaking. But the way it blend those with some more dense elements (one of them being almost too somber) feels so right that you can't help but be captured by it; I've mentioned The Fault in Our Stars at the beginning, but in this sense it's much more akin to Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.

A lot of it goes to the impeccable production and cast. Both protagonists (Flynn and Telles) are so natural that they manage to somehow hoover above you're average in-love teen couple. The supporting characters are also on spot, including some hilarious ones having little to no lines at all. But what impressed me the most was the special care given to the cinematography, which leverages the movie concept to create some really eye-caching close-ups. All of this combined with a lot of funny references to '90s nerd culture. Considering that this is the first feature film of director Kellen Moore, it's even more impressive.

Of all of those tragic-teen-romance movies that have become a genre in and of itself, this is the only one that I've actually enjoyed. Give it a try - even if you don't like it as much, I think you'll agree that it deserves a LOT more attention than it's getting.

Story - 8/10 pros: interesting concept, witty dialogue, and fun characters for the most part. cons: it's an unusual concept but falls into some YA genre related cliches briefly.

Cast - 8/10 pros: Flynn and Telles share a clear chemistry on set. It's easy to fall in love with them as a couple. Telles in particular exudes charisma and charm, while providing some strong subtly during the more dramatic moments of her journey. Scolari and Mumolo provide nice comic relief as bickering parents dealing with a son that continually accidentally kills people in their small town. cons: some of the side characters feel a little under developed.

Direction - 7.5/10 pros: Moore creates an unusual world with a lot of originality. He garners very strong performances from his two leads and orchestrates a couple very dynamic sequences, namely toward the end of the film. cons: feels like at times there is some hesitation from the first time director to commit to a joke, but then at other times maybe he doesn't show enough restraint.

Pace - 6/10 pros: the story proceeds at a very fast easy viewing pace, you never check your watch to see how much time is left. cons: maybe it moves too fast at certain times. Seems like some characters or moments got glossed over or rushed through. not sure if that is a script issue or the filmmakers didn't always accomplish what they wanted but taking points off here.

Atmosphere - 8/10 pros: the world is pretty fun. the sets and decor have a great sense of whimsicality to them but at the same time feel genuine to the world they are in. The costumes accent the sets while sharing in that "Blegh" blahnes humor of the world. The camera work and framing seems to always have a purpose and interesting look to them while adding to the joke or emotion of the moment. The musical score slides by in the background creating a fun feel while also stepping up to hammer down an emotion in the more dramatic moments of the story. cons: a couple locations didn't seem to serve much purpose in the story

Overall Score 7 out of 10, very enjoyable watch and would recommend but not a classic.