Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
Written By: DMG
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Dan Gilroy
Producer: Jennifer Fox
Screenwriter: Dan Gilroy
Date Released: February 1, 2019
Cast:
Rene Russo as Rhodora Haze
Zawe Ashton as Josephina
Toni Collette as Gretchen
Jake Gyllenhaal as Morf Vandewalt
John Malkovich as Piers
Tom Sturridge as Jon Dondon
Daveed Diggs as Damrish
Natalia Dyer as Coco
Rating = 2.5/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Josephina (Zaw Ashton) is a struggling worker within the art industry and works for gallery owner and collector, Rhodora Haze (Rene Russo). Upon returning to her apartment, she discovers that one of the tenants have died leaving behind multiple pieces of art scattered throughout the apartment. Eager to get ahead in the art industry, Josephina steals the pieces of art and shows Rhodora her findings. Rhodora becomes mesmerized by the pieces and gives Josephina the chance to move up in the industry. Meanwhile, Josephina starts a relationship with art critic, Morf (Jake Gyllenhaal). During this time, a trade war begins among the art gallery owners for who will display the best art pieces. But while this is happening, people are mysteriously dying and the art pieces that Josephina stole may be the cause of it.
Gore Factor
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) is better defined as a psychological horror film. In this way, this film contains more abstract horror elements than traditional horror such as slashers or paranormal films. As such, the gore scenes are scattered throughout the film and are far and between.
However, there is one scene concerning Gretchen (Toni Collette). In this scene, Gretchen is displaying one of the art pieces in her gallery called “the sphere.” The art piece is interactive in that you can place your hand within the monument that is supposed to give you a particular sensation which is dependent on the person. But when Gretchen places her hand in the monument, her hand gets stuck and her arm gets chopped off by the art piece. This was a fairly gruesome scene. Another scene is when Rhodora is sitting outside and her tattoo which is shaped as a saw starts to cut through her skin. Overall, Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) had some surprisingly grotesque scenes given the theme of the film.
The Grave Review
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) is a film that had great potential and was a film that you wanted to like. But by the end of Velvet Buzzsaw (2019), you may feel disappointed. To see the cast, there are some big names, such as Toni Collette, Rene Russo, Jake Gyllenhaal and John Malkovich which together, make up a powerhouse of a cast. But even the greatest actors and actresses cannot collectively fill the holes of a mediocre film.
The biggest negative about Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) was that the film was very slow-paced. It took quite a while during the film to build up the story line. With that said, a film that is slow-paced is not necessarily a bad thing. But, if you are going to pace the progression of your story in this way, there must be more attention to detail and facts. For example, it is revealed that the paintings are the result of the victim’s death, but you never understand why the paintings are harming people. The film leaves this fact to the mystery of the audience. The problem with that is, this idea of “paintings gone wild” does not make any sense without some clarification. They state the paintings were made with blood, but that does not provide much clarification to the issue at hand.
The other negative with this film is that virtually all the characters are not relatable nor are they likeable. The film portrays every person as a cut-throat individual who is fighting to stay on top in a very competitive art industry. Even Josephina, who is one of the main focuses of the film, should have had more of a backstory. This would have at least given a little more context to the film. The film essentially suggests that everyone, even if once innocent and genuine, is inherently evil. Towards the end of the film, you will not feel bad for anyone who has died.
Nevertheless, it was satisfying to see a strong cast interact with one another. Rene Russo and Toni Collette’s characters and dialogue with one another was very fitting for the role of two competitive, heartless art managers. Even Jake Gyllenhaal, who is normally in offbeat films, was a good fit for an eccentric critic. But as stated above, the lack of character development and plot undermined the cast’s performance.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) two and one-half graves out of five graves.
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