Charlie Kaufman has always been respected as a unique filmmaker. As far as I’m concerned, this latest Netflix entry has taken him over the edge. It starts as Jesse Plemons takes his girlfriend (Jessie Buckley) home in a snow storm to meet his parents (Toni Collette and David Thewlis). After a long sequence in the car they arrive at the farm, where the Twilight Zone takes over. Things go from weird to confusing as this muse on memories and fantasy culminates in a dance sequence and a Nobel Prize. There are hidden messages and symbolic signs littered throughout in an attempt to make this make sense. As a straight-up cinematic experience it’s sometimes interesting, but more often frustrating, tedious, and self-indulgent (yes, that all lower-case title is one example).
There have already been numerous articles trying to decode the meaning of this mental adventure, so check them out if you want extra help with the confusion.
(1 / 5)