Queen of Earth

I loved "Listen Up Philip" and found "The Color Wheel" very interesting (if also annoying), so I was very psyched for this latest by ARP. I'm not sure what it ultimately adds up to, script-wise, or how much weight it would have at all if not for the lead performance. But what a performance. Moss is remarkable. It's one of those descent-into-madness performances that's so riveting it almost doesn't matter that the narrative and explicating psychology are sketchy at best. I suppose that's partly the point--that our understanding of what is happening to the character is as fragmentary as her own understanding of it--but nonetheless it's a little frustrating. That doesn't matter all that much, though, because Moss is so fascinating to watch. Eventually I'll see the movie again, not only to experience that performance a second time, but also to see if the film has more substance to it (independent on that star turn) than it appeared at first glance.

Slowmoving psychological drama about a woman with a mental state that's on a downward spiral after her father died.

Has a bit of a eerie 70's mystery feeling to it stylewise both visually and emotionally (even though it takes place in now time).

But instead of getting intrigued I just found it rather dull instead, perhaps a bit to do with the fact that I didn't find anything particularly likable about any of the characters (or interesting for that matter) and they were all fairly self-absorbed.

And some scenes just go on forever with mumbling monologues of which I often found myself not knowing what exactly they were talking about because for one they mumbled quietly and also the eerie music was really loud, so that didn't really help, and the ending is rather abrupt.

So yeah what can I say, not for me I guess.

'QUEEN OF EARTH': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A psychological thriller flick written and directed by indie filmmaker, and actor, Alex Ross Perry. It tells the story of two childhood friends, that reunite at a lake house, as adult women, and find out they no longer feel close. The movie stars Elisabeth Moss, Katherine Waterston and Patrick Fugit. Perry and Moss were also producers on the film, along with Adam Piotrowicz and the very prolific Joe Swanberg. The movie is very impressive, stylistically speaking, but it's also a little bit of a mess, from a dramatic storytelling point of view.

Catherine (Moss) and Virginia (Waterston) are two women, who were very close while growing up. They've continued to reunite, every summer, at a vacation lake house; owned by Virginia's family. Over the past few years, they've started to grow apart; and became very bitter towards each other. Their recent relations with men, have really driven the two to a breaking point; as Catherine also starts to lose her sanity.

The movie is very beautifully shot, and the music is haunting and very memorable; with a classic (and very campy) B movie feel to it. The film is played out like a thriller, but it's actually more of a dramatic character study; and it's an excellent examination of female relationships (and mental illness) as well. Moss and Waterston are both really good in the film, and Perry's direction is excellent. It's not a perfect film, but it is a memorable one.

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To me, this was one of those supposed deep dramas that produced only unlikable characters, espousing psychological drivel throughout, and thus in the end just became ponderous and irritating to watch. Often told through flashbacks, it held my interest for a while, wondering where it was all going. I should have known better because it ended up going nowhere, all the way to its highly ambiguous finale.

Elisabeth Moss and Katherine Waterston star as Catherine and Virginia respectively. Catherine has come up to her best friend Virginia's family vacation home to get some rest and relaxation. Her emotional state is quite unstable, after her father, a renowned artist committed suicide, and her partner has told her he's having an affair with another woman.

If these two women are best friends, I wouldn't like to meet their enemies, because Catherine and Virginia are constantly bickering at their best moments and being cruel and hostile to each other at their worst. They're joined from time to time by Virginia's neighbor Rich (Patrick Fugit), who's in a relationship of some sorts with Virginia, and who seems to delight in "adding fuel to the fire" whenever he can to provoke the unstable Catherine.

All in all, I imagine the writer and director here Alex Ross Perry, was aiming for a deep meaningful film, but all I found it to be was a tedious and irritating waste of time.

So, I really wasn't a fan of Alex Ross Perry's last film Listen Up Philip. That's all I have to base him on. I felt there were a few redeeming aspects going for it, but generally it was an unpleasant experience. It's biggest redeeming aspect? Easily Elisabeth Moss. She played Philip's recovering ex-girlfriend with such tender vulnerability that Perry's ineptitude as a writer and director couldn't get in her way. She makes the film worthwhile when the film could have easily chopped off her subplot and remained the same. Though to clarify, her performance is good, her story is a drag. In theory, Queen of Earth was the perfect next move. A focused movie letting Moss let loose with the unhinged side of her character from Listen Up. And yet, it went so wrong. Someone must have hurt Alex Ross Perry bad. The only thing he has to thoughtlessly spray about people are mean-spirited bites with absolutely no finesse. I don't mind cynical films or characters, but not when they bring absolutely nothing insightful to the table. It's an ugly spite that dives into the unpleasant side of unpleasant people without essential epiphanies.

Instead, Perry has his 'queen of earth' blame everyone else for her problem sans any hint of irony. It's far too self-serious and unsatisfying. It's lazy writing when the backstory is much more interesting than what they're showing on screen, especially when its many flashbacks refuse to divulge into it. It's not necessarily a clumsy film, but it's a very pretentious in its composition and rhythm as if it's the next Persona or 3 Women. How many minuscule scenes do we need of the two leading women walking by each other tensely in a room? I'd like to say Katherine Waterston saves it in a co-leading opportunity, but in Perry's hands she's worse than Moss. I forgive both actresses and Patrick Fugit, but the material they had to work with is so petty and flat, never probing into deeper human needs, only superficial selfish desires that have no third dimension. I could kind of get into it at first, the opening prologue shot for example is very compelling, but it just never finds its way from there. At least its photography isn't quite as incompetent, though Perry is trapping me in his closeups again. It makes Listen Up Philip look well developed in comparison.

5/10