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Aug 03, 2016
I'm resisting the urge to rhapsodize because I understand how widely the opinions differ on which of David Cronenberg's films belong in the greatness category & which ones were just stinkers & sinkers. I'd experienced a lot of gut-wrenching disappointment with 'Spider' & 'A Dangerous Method', & this for me seemed a return to greatness for a longtime director hero of mine, so that would be the short response. Even the perenially safe & sane John Cusack turns in a memorably wicked performance, but it was Evan Bird's sass-talkin' tween actor & Julianne Moore's corrupt Hollywood empress that really took this one over the top for me. I loved how subtle lighting was used throughout to make ordinary faces look momentarily horrific. I loved the ghost children in the swimming pool, & all the personal horror masked by celebrity schmoozing, & the cryptic exposition leading you deeper into the sick mystery of it all, & The Moment When There Is No Turning Back. As with other film industry insider flicks, you wonder if everyone in L.A. can really be this hateful & false & depraved, but it is truly fun as hell to watch, & the karmic trajectory & the Cronenbergian personal implosions are tautly synched, uniquely realized, & richly imagined everywhere. Just couldn't have loved this one more, & it won't be long before I see it again. Muy recomendable to the maxxx...! CR