marcuswoIf

This season sadly was a bunch of nothing with a little something sprinkled in between. You cannot set up stuff like: syd decision, the impact of the review, Claire (completely nuts to sidetrack this for a whole season and drag it into S4 !?) and then not resolve any of them within the same season! That was the least that should have happened. Also the screentime for the supporting characters was too unbalanced. The season started with two (2!!!) teaser episodes that set everything up we already knew at the end of the second season. A dignified season 3 would have closed the things I mentioned earlier. And then: finish the show after three seasons. I don't feel like Storer knows where and how this show ends, that's the most important thing a showrunner needs to know. S3 Episode 10 would have worked as the final episode. Now we're gonna get at least 5 seasons of this teasing-style with some special episodes in between. I think the bear has run its course. Only downhill from here.

Saw it at Berlinale - Hunter Schafer is good and we, on a emotional level, really believe everything she is asked to do by the director. Her performance ankers this movie, there isn't much to complain about on her part. The main reason why this movie does not work is the main antagonist - from the first time we see him he comes of as strange, not in a creepy or uncanny way which this movie would have needed but like he didn't belong into this movie. The character is obviously supposed to be off-putting and mysterious with an eccentric touch but apart from the latter his performance fails to convey this. The plot gets more and more obscure with time, and it is clear a somewhat logical ending will not be possible. Which a movie does not necessarily need by the way! But it tries to string it together and that does not work, it becomes laughable at times and misses it's mark. Not to mention the irrational choices made by the other family members. Maybe the way it tries to explain itself is what ultimately breaks it. The multiple tonal shifts and pace changes as it gets closer to the credits result in losing emotional connection, but I can see how they could work for some viewers. A performance that really worked besides Schafers is her young sister. The cinematography is good. It may get you with some jump scares but if you are familiar with the genre you will see most of them coming.