Best of 2018: Thoroughbreds

Firstly, I know the title might seem a little preemptive. It’s late March and I’m already starting a “Best of 2018” series. Seeing that I will not be attending Shawnee Mission East at the end of 2018, I’m writing this review in full confidence that “Thoroughbreds” will remain as one of my top ten favorite movies of 2018. It doesn’t have a lot of competition, so I would bet money that it’ll still be high on my list by December 31, 2018. “Thoroughbreds” is technically a 2017 movie, but with editing issues due to the untimely death of actor Anton Yelchin, it didn’t get a release in the United States until March 9, 2018. But amongst its unfortunate postproduction issues, “Thoroughbreds” triumphs with flying colors as a technical and storytelling masterwork.

If you don’t know the plot of the film, it’s quite simple: Amanda (played by Olivia Cooke) is a senior in high school who has no emotions. No therapist or psychiatrist has been able to pinpoint any reason for this; she is the way she is. Amanda begins to get English tutoring from an old elementary school classmate, Lily, who is almost the opposite of Amanda. She lives with her mom and her incredibly wealthy stepdad, who she justifiably hates. Lily meets a high school graduate who tries to make a living selling drugs to high schoolers, and when Lily and Amanda grow closer, Amanda suggests they kill Lily’s dad; that’s when Lily gets in contact with the drug dealer. “Thoroughbreds” is a dark comedy, and it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen. The writing is perfection. The timing, the wittiness, the jokes, everything. This is the directorial debut for Cory Finley, who also wrote it, and that makes me so excited to see what his career will turn into. If he can improve off of this amazing first film, he’s easily going to be the next Quentin Tarantino. Interestingly enough, I read that Finley is firstly a playwright. In fact, “Thoroughbreds” was originally planned to be a stage play.

I love Olivia Cooke. She is a bright, young, and beautiful actress with immense talent. If she keeps picking projects this well, and continues to act this marvelously in all of them, she is going to end up becoming one of the greatest actresses of all time. I’d bet money on it. As long as she picks projects like “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” and stays away from dumpster fires like “Ouija,” she’ll be all set. She continues to be phenomenal in “Thoroughbreds.” As previously mentioned, Olivia Cooke plays Amanda, who has no emotions. It might seem like that would be a very easy role to play, and if it was written poorly, then yes, I can see that. However, the script is brilliant, so that wasn’t a problem. In fact, both Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy (who played Lily) deliver amazing performances. I’ve never seen Anya Taylor-Joy in a film before, although she is in a 2015 film called “The Witch,” which is one some friends have been screaming at me to watch. Despite not being a fan of most horror movies, I have more of a motive to give it a viewing, because I believe she could really be going places if she keeps up the good work herself. The late Anton Yelchin was wonderful in this movie too. You might know him for his role as Chekov in the Star Trek reboot trilogy. He died tragically, because Jeeps are terrible cars and his ran him over due to the parking brake malfunctioning. I’m even more mad about it now due to his absolutely stellar performance. He played a very sketchy dude who begins to help Amanda and Lily out with their plan to kill Lily’s step dad, but he ultimately chickens out, and then makes an appearance at the end. His screen time was limited, although long enough, but he acted the hell out of this character. Such wasted potential. May he Rest In Peace.

The camerawork was excellent and very unique. There was such a wide variety of shots, which is always refreshing. There was everything from ultra wide symmetrical shots, to close tracking shots, to very slow zooms, etc. Movies are a visual art, so keeping the camera movements interesting but not unsettling is key. When the cinematography is perfect, there’s really not much more I can say about it. The editing and color correction was perfect too. Each of those complimented the camerawork very well.

I cannot express enough how tired I am of the same generic musical score for every movie that has come out in the past ten years or so. I’d fill a page or two of movies with shitty scores, if I worked at it hard and long enough. But “Thoroughbreds” offers music that not only sets the tone and mathes it perfectly throughout, but it is also gorgeous and a masterful work of art on its own. What I would give for every movie score to be like this one. It is perfectly eerie, rhythmic, and unlike anything else I’ve ever heard.

I keep searching harder and harder for more movies to be excited about in 2018. I’m not that excited for “The Incredibles II.” I love the original, but Pixar’s latest movie “Coco” did not impress me beyond the animation and the music. I am looking forward to “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” more so now because of the trailers, but it’s really something to tide me over until episode IX comes out in 2019. Needless to say, I’m grateful for “Thoroughbreds.” And why shouldn’t I be? It’s brilliantly shot, written, acted, directed and it’s a purely original movie, which could be a sparse thing this year. We’re all getting too comfortable with the franchises we already know so well. I’m not going to tell you to boycott “Avengers: Infinity War,” but I will always encourage audiences to support original films that are their own separate entities that don’t need a prequel or a sequel. The MCU is great, but after the last Avengers movie, I’m not going to have much interest left in this universe. Originality from great talent is going to keep Hollywood alive, and it’s what makes “Thoroughbreds” a breath of fresh air, and a masterpiece.

10 out of 10