Thoroughbreds: Featuring the Late Anton Yelchin

Most of us would consider a drug dealer to be bad news all around, especially one who pushes product in school yards. However, to Lily and her bestie Amanda, shaggy-haired Tim is still merely one of the help. He just happens to carry a gun, making him more useful to them. They expect to get what they want, because they are young, entitled, and sociopathic, so they don’t see why the murder of Lily’s step-father should be any different in Cory Finley’s Thoroughbreds (trailer here), which opens tomorrow in New York.

Lily and Amanda were once close, grew apart, and have been forced back together recently. Socially, Amanda has become persona non-grata ever she one-upped Equus with her prized horse. Although Amanda claims she no longer feels emotions (basically bragging she is a full-stop sociopath), her mother is sufficiently concerned, she has actually hired her old BFF Lily to tutor her, as a means of providing some socialization. Unfortunately, bringing these two together could potentially be very dangerous, like the Key-Master and the Gate-Keeper.

Indeed, before long, Amanda has adopted Lily’s despised step-father Mark as her nemesis as well. Instead of passive aggressive tantrums, Amanda suggests more proactive steps—specifically murder. They will not do it themselves, of course. They will frame-up poor Tim and then extort him into murdering Tim for them. At least, that is the plan, but plans usually go awry in the film noir classics they constantly watch together.

It is a terrible shame this is one of the final screen appearances from the late Anton Yelchin, but Tim the reluctant killer was a perfect role for him. He has to be the most nebbish drug dealer ever seen on film, but there is still something dangerously unpredictable about him. There is nothing awkward about Thoroughbreds as a capstone to Yelchin’s career, but it leaves us wondering what could have been.

The film also advances Anya Taylor-Joy’s steady build to superstardom. Most encouragingly, genre roles seem to be her thing. She conveyed a profound sense of inner torment in The Witch and now she gives us frost-burn as Lily, a spectacularly icy femme fatale, if ever there was one. For most of the film, Olivia Cooke more or less hits the same note as the conscience-less Amanda, but it is quite a chilling note. Yet, she nicely sets us up for some surprises down the stretch. Paul Sparks also makes a perfect noir antagonist for them as the contemptuous step-father. We basically agree with his disdainful opinion of Lily, but viewers still will root to see him get his own comeuppance for his arrogance.

Thoroughbreds is relatively narrow in scope, but it is lethally effective. Finley, a playwright turned filmmaker, is definitely working in the tradition of classic stage thrillers: limited settings, a small cast of characters, and some deeply rooted resentments. It is the little film with a cold, cold heart. Recommended for fans of film noir and the late Yelchin, Thoroughbreds opens tomorrow (3/9) in New York at multiple theaters, including the Regal E-Walk.

Sundance ’17: Rememory

Without our memories, we wouldn’t have our guilt, jealousy, and resentments—all the stuff that makes us human. It would seem the messy combination above also contributed to the death of noted memory specialist Dr. Gordon Dunn. Unfortunately, Dunn’s new game-changing invention is also missing, prompting the mysterious Sam Bloom to conduct his own investigation in Mark Palansky’s Rememory (trailer here), which screens during the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

It is not clear whether Bloom really was a friend of Dunn’s or if he simply hoping the Macguffin device would help him process his emotional issues. Clearly, Bloom blames himself for the death of his rock-star brother, because he was behind the wheel at the time of the fatal accident. This looks like a perfect case for Dunn’s treatment. His invention records and plays back memory with flawless accuracy, stripping away the distortions we layer on over the years. According to Dunn, viewing painful memories in this fashion is cathartic, but at least one disgruntled patient vehemently begs to differ. As a further complication, Dunn had begun tweaking his device after documenting a number of unfortunate side effects.

Of course, the agitated Todd is seen furtively leaving Dunn’s office on the fateful night in question. So is his spurned lover Wendy, who is also rather disappointed Dunn used a number of her emotionally charged memories in his Steve Jobs-style product launch, without prior permission. Tracking down the memory VCR would certainly help Bloom crack the case, but it might not necessarily cure what ails him.

It is hard to explain why, but Rememory does not feel like a Sundance film. It is built around an intriguing premise, but Palansky never delves too deeply into issues of memory and identity. Nevertheless, the noir style is quite appealing. Game of Thrones fans will also be happy to hear Peter Dinklage is terrific as Bloom. It is a moody but understated turn that proves he can carry a film. His scenes with Julia Ormond playing Dunn’s slightly estranged widow are especially rich and laden with complicated chemistry. The late Anton Yelchin (who had two films at Sundance this year) is also twitchy and jangly, like a raw nerve ending, as poor desperate Todd. Plus, Martin Donovan is perfectly cast as the smooth-talking Dunn, but unfortunately there is no opportunity for a proper scene with him and Dinklage together.

Rememory is a reasonably entertaining film, but it is nowhere near as clever as it thinks it is. Regardless, it is a pleasure to watch pros like Dinklage and Ormond do their thing. Sadly, it also takes on additional irony as one of Yelchin’s final films that happens to be all about memory and grief. Recommended overall for fans of social-psychological science fiction, Rememory screens again tomorrow (1/28) at Sundance Mountain Resort and Sunday (1/29) in Salt Lake, as part of this year’s Sundance.