Serial Beauty

Well,

Serial Beauty on the surface appears to be a solid film, with a solid cast, and an okay script, however, it all falls apart within the first 20 minutes of the film.

I rented this film on Amazon Prime, and for the first time since becoming a Prime member, I've actually requested my money back for a purchase.

This film is amateur at best, and by no means am I a professional filmmaker, but I've seen enough movies to know when something is not professionally made.

My biggest complaint besides the quality is the messiness of the script, as this film goes 15 different ways, and gets lost 15 more.

Please stray away if possible, or at least watch when it's streaming for free.

Serial Beauty (2024) recently popped up in my Amazon Prime suggested feed, and I figured I would give it a watch since a lot of the cast have appeared in titles that I'm a fan of.

What I struggled with when it comes to this film is that you almost get invested in the story, but the bad writing and the dated camera style/work get in the way and drastically take away from the talent and the film itself.

When I see a film like this, I try my absolute best to seek out the performances of the actors that I admire and look for the good, however, there is not much "good" to be found in "Serial Beauty".

What a nice surprise. This is a fun thriller/dry comedy with some nice performances. Serial Beauty is about two cops trying to track down a killer who's turning his victims into mannequins and works of art. Yes, you have to overlook a few things, and the cinematography at times is a little inconsistent, but I really enjoyed this film, mostly because of the dry humor.

Serial Beauty also succeeds because the acting is really good; the cast all seem to be on the same page. I thought the character Vadim the mortician, played by Tihomir Dukic, did a really good job. He's a little over the top, but I like that he made that choice. He's super creepy and fixated on the beauty of these dead women, which is unnerving and plays into the world writer and director Sigal Erez created. I don't think this film is for everyone, and again, that's why I like it even more. I don't mind the rough edges. I can see what Sigal is doing, and I enjoyed it. It is also unpredictable and has a few twists, which was nice to watch.

Where do I even start...

I checked this film out on a pure whim with the internal hopes that it would have some promise, and wow, I must say, this incredibly let me down.

If you happen to read other reviews, you will see that a lot of the complaints surround the acting and the camera work, which didn't bother me too much (I've seen worse), however, it was more the plot that made absolutely no sense, and was honestly all over the place.

I guess I went in expecting something that had Egytpian-related undertones, with some horror elements. Still, I was either misled by the poster/trailer or just misunderstood the entire concept.

Regardless, avoid if possible, unless you can make a game out of it.

Serial Beauty's description/plot intrigued me initially, so I went ahead and added it to my watchlist.

I was finally able to check it out this past weekend, and I couldn't have been more let down by a film.

The story is so fascinating, but the production value is "student film" quality at best, and the acting is sub-par, with mediocre visual effects.

I'm not sure if it was budgetary restrictions that affected this film, or it was issues with the script, however, something happened and caused this film to fall flat and become unwatchable.

In summary, it is a great idea, but the final product leaves the viewer not only wanting more but completely let down.