Matt After Dark: Auteur Alley
Matt at the Movies reviews two films for adult audiences: "Challengers" (Highly Recommend - 9.0) and "Civil War" (Recommend - 8.0).
An auteur filmmaker brings a unique presence or vibe that, over time, can tie the director to a particular style of film. They can master a genre like Mel Brooks (farcical comedies) or Paul Thomas Anderson (psychological dramas).
David Fincher says tapping into human condition has played into his whole aesthetic, stating, “I think people are perverts. I've maintained that. That's the foundation of my career.”
When you view a Scorsese film you wait for the needle drops, long tracking shots, and familiar faces (De Niro/DiCaprio) who embody the spirit of his productions.
If I gave you a quick list of hallmarks that include stylized violence; profanity-laced conversations; pop culture references in both dialog and music; and the occasional foot fetish shot, you would guess…? Quentin Tarantino, obviously.
Tonight, we’re looking at writer-directors Alex Garland and Luca Guadagnino, who built their careers working within their own self-made genre parameters.
Guadagnigo hails from the capital city of Sicily, but grew up in Ethiopia until his family was forced to return to Palermo due to a civil war in 1977. He studied film history and even wrote his thesis on American director Jonathan Demme. He is most well known for his Desire trilogy of I Am Love, A Bigger Splash, and the 2017 Oscar nominated film Call Me by Your Name.
Luca is a hedonist at heart but he finds great success in the lust, desire, and complications that history can bring to a relationship. He pushed boundaries both morally and sexually in front of the camera, often leading to an intense vulnerability within his characters. Guadagnigo dives into familial, platonic, and queer relationships with a fervor that makes many viewers a little squeamish or uncomfortable. I know I’ll never look at peaches the same way.
His HBO mini-series We Are Who We Are is a coming of age story about the sexual confusion of Gen Z young adults today that pairs extremely well with Call Me by Your Name. He brings fast cuts, vibrant music, and a unique style that keeps your eyes on the screen. How he holds camera shots and close ups of his actors' faces during their most critical scenes increases the heat in the room by a few degrees.
In 2022, he collaborated with Timothée Chalamet for a second time with the horror love story Bones and All that features grotesque imagery of cannibalism and passion. Guadagnino’s personal style, taste, and view of human sexuality makes you take sides in your own mind.
Review: Challengers
Guadagnino’s newest entry, Challengers, revisits many of these themes to craft a Matt at the Movies must see for 2024. Check out this film currently playing at the Independent Picture House!
In a Nutshell
The story revolves around three young accomplished junior tennis players that play out over two timelines. We begin with an end of career tennis star Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) who is making one last push to go for the career Grand Slam with his former junior champion wife Tashi (Zendaya) serving as his coach and manager. To give him a chance to shake off the rust, Tashi chose a low level challenger tourney to get things back on track. Enter a down on his luck, broke, and struggling player Patrick Zwieg (Josh O’Connor) looking to earn enough cash winnings to afford a hotel and some food until the next tournament arrives.
We quickly realize they are all connected and are pushed back thirteen years prior to a junior championship tourney where Art and Patrick are doubles teammates nicknamed “Fire and Ice”. They win their title and race off to watch Tashi Duncan play in the singles final. Both men are as enamored as any eighteen year old in the history of either women or tennis with her on the court play. As the Trent Renzor and Atticus Finch EDM soundtrack pulses in the background, we see Tashi display power, ferocity, and confidence that leaves the boys in literal awe. They head to the post tourney bash and shoot their shot with some success convincing her to meet them later at her hotel. Tashi reveals she’ll attend Stanford next year along with Art as Patrick will make his way to the pro circuit. She feels out the weaknesses of each of her suitors by interrogating them while also making a play for both that leads to quite the hilarious and steamy situation. Tashi is in complete control of the two and lets them know she’s not here to be a homewrecker to their “bromance”.
As we move through the timeline we see that this seemingly simple warm up tournament for Art will be his biggest personal test as he faces Patrick in the final. As Tashi watches from the sidelines we bounce back to college years in Stanford where she is the country's top female player and in a toasty semi-serious relationship with Patrick. Art sees Tashi regularly and is still madly in love with her but respects his ex partners tryst for the time being. When the inevitable breakup happens, Tashi brings her anger to the court and we see our first instance where Patrick causes her to lose control. This lapse in judgment leads to her severely injuring her knee and ends her playing career. We go back to the present and their final match is heating up as the men trade points while glancing at an uncomfortable Tashi throughout.
As the years pass we see both men on the pro circuit and Tashi who is now a coach makes a pitch to take over Art’s rising career. Art admits his love to her and they eventually marry and have a child together. Through each current day finals match sets we see flashbacks of tense conversations, chance meet ups, and indiscretions between the three main characters. Tashi is happy with Art and their life but misses the fire she had with Patrick, no matter how much she hates him at any current moment. The back and forth three way conversations are playful, sexy, and occasionally morose where it feels like their histories can’t move on from one another. With the final match coming to a close we see multiple storylines converge for an extremely intense and heart pumping finale.
Time is Money, Why Should I Go?
The storyline and pacing of this film are excellent. Guadagnino uses the Finch/Reznor score to perfection showcasing tennis scenes that are both entertaining with a hint of seduction off every racquet hit. The crowd at our early IMAX screening was locked in to each scene with a certain joie de vivre for each playful exchange or sultry encounter. There is nothing more I love than complicated suburban marriage stories and turning forty this week I thought I’d reflect a little.
Here is my …
Matt’s Top 5 “After Dark” Movies Post-2000:
5 - Little Children (2006): Kate Winslet stars in Todd Field’s drama about unfilled couples and their stations as primary caregivers with Patrick Wilson.
4 - Unfaithful (2002): Diane Lane leads this steamy Adrian Lyne film about a New York City stay at home mom who falls for a younger handsome book dealer.
3 - Gone Girl (2014): David Fincher’s novel adaptation starring Rosamund Pike in her Oscar nominated role along with Ben Affleck who was born to play a shitty cheating husband.
2 - Last Night (2010): Kiera Knightly and Sam Worthington play a New York couple who are tempted by old flames and coworkers to see if they will cross the line of adultery.
1 - Closer (2004): Oscar winning Mike Nichols brings his hit Broadway play to life in this star studded foursome of love and deceit starring Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, and Clive Owen. The intensity and vitriol of some of the dialogue is ingrained into my head decades later. This should be mandatory viewing for anyone interested in this niche genre.
Luca hits a real sweet spot with this film as the love between all three actors is real, sometimes fluid, sometimes platonic, and always tinged with a bit of jealousy which makes it all the more spicy to consume. This was a wild ride that will surely crack my top five when I remake my list.
Spill the Tea
The film was set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival last September but was pushed until April due the SAG-AFTRA strike. With Zendaya powering the film they wanted to be able to showcase her as much as possible in promotions especially to the Millenial and Gen Z audiences. Rest assured my older generations, this is a film for everyone and Guadagnino is at the top of his game when it comes to steamy complicated romances. It may not be quite Oscar worthy but the score and possibly Zendaya’s performance may garner some awards attention come next season.
Star of the Show
I loved Mike Faist in West Side Story and Josh O’Connor’s role as a young Prince Charles in the Netflix series The Crown, but this is Zendaya’s vehicle to claim. For younger fans they have loved her since Disney days, but older fans may have been entranced by her performance as a drug addled high school teen in HBO’s Euphoria that has earned her two Emmys for best leading actress in a drama. Her recent ventures into the Spiderman series (she currently dates the lead Tom Holland) and Dune which has eclipsed 700 million worldwide has her entrenched as one of the premiere actresses in Hollywood. She dazzles in this film and commands each scene she is in. The way she handles each of the men in this film is fascinating where it feels she’s always in control… until she isn’t. The sky's the limit for what Zendaya wants to accomplish next.
Don’t Sleep On
British lead Josh O’Connor made a splash in 2017’s God’s Own Country and brings a bravado to this film. He plays the role of great friend but shitty lover well and even tell’s Zendaya’s character as much. The ability to get a rise out of both Art and Tashi makes the pacing of the movie exciting but also devilishly fun. The best dialogue is delivered in whatever scene he appears in and serves as the real catalyst for the film.
Best Ten-Minute Stretch
I hate to say it but the final ten minutes brought everything together. It was exhilarating to watch and I don’t want to spoil it so go see it for yourself!
Could Have Used More …
Was surprised I didn’t need to say tennis here as there was more than enough to satisfy both the casual viewer and regular watcher. I’m surprised that Guadagnino didn’t take the love scenes a little further as he has been known to push boundaries in that arena.
Matt at the Movies Score
Highly Recommend - 9.0 (steamy, well paced, and a great date night film)
Breakdown
Pieces together the overall “vibe” this movie brings from other releases.
Review: Civil War
British born Alex Garland started his career as a writer for such films as 28 Days Later and the criminally-underrated sci-fi flick Sunshine, both helmed by Academy award winning director Danny Boyle. His own directorial debut earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay in 2016 for Ex Machina, an A.I. Turing Test story that is as exciting as it is unnerving. He followed that success to adapt the best selling book Annihilation onto the screen featuring Natalie Portman as the lead with a team of scientists entering a quarantine zone where an alien presence had landed. In 2022, he wrote and directed a folk horror story titled Men about a woman on holiday who is experiencing countless interactions with different variations of the same man that takes quite disturbing turns.
His overarching theme is the psychological impact the main characters must endure and adapt to ensure their survival. He has beautifully set shots that include gorgeous landscapes to provide a naturalistic calmness to his disconcerting storylines. Whether he’s creating a one season miniseries like 2020’s Devs for FX or a zombie apocalypse, he utilizes scientific discovery and technology to showcase the capacity of human potential along with its inherent evils. A24 studios gave him his largest budget to date (approximately 50 million) to create Civil War and his themes are as present as ever in this thought provoking dystopian one hour and forty-nine minute film. Number one at the box office for the last two weeks, let's take a deeper dive into what Garland has said will be his last directorial project for the foreseeable future.
In a Nutshell
Four journalists hit the road in a fractured and war torn American civil war that is reaching its inevitable conclusion. Rebel alliances from nineteen states head towards Washington D.C. to depose the current president who skirted around the 22nd amendment to take a third term in office. We aren’t given much more to work with the “why” or “how” everything unfolded in the previous years conflicts as we are dropped into a martial law controlled zone of New York City.
Lee, played by Kirsten Dunst, is a war photographer who along with her coworker Joel (Wagner Moura) are set to drive from the city to Washington D.C. where the President (Nick Offerman) has commanded journalists to be shot on site. They are seeking an interview and seemingly last confession from what feels like the likely end of his political reign over the next few days. Lee saves a young and naive photographer named Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) from death during a protest turned terrorist bombing and Jessie convinces the two war grizzled vets to allow her to join along on their trip, much to Lee’s chagrin. Also tagging along for one last hurrah is an elderly and physically unfit writer for the New York Times named Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) who embodies the ethically responsible old school journalistic soul of the group.
A burnt out photographer, a sensationalist reporter, an extremely green novice, and a geriatric correspondent … what could go wrong?
As they work their way through alternate routes of small town USA, the group encounters a variety of slices of Americana that have been affected by the bloodshed to varying degrees. They engage with dangerous gangs of locals to obtain food, gas, or take images to share with the rest of the world. The interactions are a mixture of tenseness along with gallows humor as we see extreme violence that has seemingly become normal everyday life. Lee tries to keep Jessie from the grotesque horrors of war but Jessie slowly develops a rough skin to want to get in on the action. The crew works across Pennsylvania to tag along with rebel groups fighting building by building in intense action sequences that feature incredible sound reminiscent of Michael Mann shootouts.
Through each encounter ranging from sniper standoffs to genocide we see the group dynamics shifting. Lee is becoming more disillusioned as years of wartime terrors are psychologically affecting her ability to do her job. As Joel loses colleagues he becomes more brazen and erratic in true Heart of Darkness fashion. Sammy tries to keep the team on the straight and narrow but is coming to grips that this could be final assignment. Jessie becomes hungry, fearless, and eager to throw it all away for the perfect shot. As they make their way to D.C. they experience traumatic events and the evils of war that seem counterintuitive to everything about the American experience. Still they press on and when they reach the front gates of the White House there is no going back. The final fifteen minutes feature a few of the best battle scene set pieces of the last decade.
Time is Money, Why Should I Go?
This movie is not about large scale war and the military-industrial complex as much as it is about vignettes of what war can do to families, cities, or tiny towns ripped apart by the conflicts. It’s an exercise of exploring human nature when laws seemingly no longer apply. We, like the four journalists, are along for the ride which doesn’t involve getting all the answers our minds are seeking. This story combines so many aspects of Garland’s previous films to such a large scale that I don’t think any director could neatly tie this up with a bow in under two hours. Like most of his films it pauses you to think and it resonates for a long time after the lights come up.
Spill the Tea
With online sleuthing and some Reddit posts, fans have put together a map of the current status of what once was the United States.
Many conclusions surfaced online about the image above. What is Garland’s intent to dramatize the fabric of the current American political landscape and why would anyone want to watch a film about the United States being torn asunder?
Is this story a shot at former President Trump and the road he sees America moving towards or glibly showcasing war porn when actual atrocities in Ukraine and the Middle East are happening before our eyes? They say any press is good press and the buzz created a lot of filmgoers as well as curious minds to the theaters to see what all the hype was about.
Star of the Show
Cailee Spaeny has worked with Garland before in the FX series Devs where she played a plucky teenage genius computer engineer. She had a breakout role in Sofia Coppola’s Elvis film starring as the titular Priscilla that completely captured the isolation of a teenage girl trying to deal with fame while coming of age. Her character Jessie has a true story arc that is the backbone of the story. To watch her journey throughout the trials and tribulations of the movie was a treat. She’ll also be the star in the seventh installment of the Aliens franchise this August with Alien: Romulus. Keep a close watch on her rise through Hollywood.
Don’t Sleep On
Wagner Moura, who plays the headline-grabbing war enthusiast reporter Joel, was fantastic. You may remember him from his breakout role as Pablo Escobar in the Netflix series Narcos but he brings a passion, intensity, and dark humor throughout this film that is fitting for our traveling quartet.
Best Ten-Minute Stretch
As the group meets up with a couple of their journalist friends on the road they run into a situation that they may not be able to recover from. Jesse Plemons plays a soldier who is at work with his terror squad trying to hide the evidence of a genocide. As the group comes upon the bodies they are held at gunpoint and questioned by Plemons, Kirsten Dunst’s real-life husband.
The sequence is the most tense ten minutes I’ve experienced so far this year. He questions the nationality, ethnic background, and patriotism of different members of the group with full intention of adding them to his body count. His calm yet racist vitriol that spills out while interrogating the group is beyond chilling and has you on the edge of your seat.
Could Have Used More …
I think everyone who has already watched would love more incite or flashbacks to bring us up to date on the present day conflicts. Garland wanted to leave it open-ended and we can definitely piece together more facts as the movie goes forward, but a little more exposition to set things up would have made it a more enjoyable ride.
MatM Score
Recommend - 8.0 (best seen on a large screen with the sound on max)
Breakdown
Pieces together the overall “vibe” this movie brings from other releases.
Great work, Matt!