In the vein of “Heathers”,” Cruel Intentions”, and “American Psycho”, Focus Features and Chapter Four brings us “Thoroughbreds”. In this strange and dark story, Anya Taylor-Joy plays Lily and Olivia Cooke plays Amanda, two young ladies that are trying to get their friendship on track and in doing so, hatch a plan that has so much potential to go awry… and kind of does.
I can appreciate Cory Finley’s skills as a playwright with moments of long drama filled dialog, but his directorial skills are a bit lacking. Relying on the camera panning back and forth between the actors on the screen to provide action added to the feel that I was at a play and not a movie. Perhaps this was intentional, but not enough for me to find it distinctive, unique, or even smart. Both Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke “A” game to the screen, which helps keep some of the plot holes from being overly distracting. The score for the movie is a bit out there, but it actually works well.
I cannot say that this is a bad film, but it is also not one that I would go out of my way to see again. Personally I would wait for this one to come out for home viewing.