This was a really highly anticipated film for this year with the mystery in the marketing, the star power in Pattinson and Zendaya, and the force that is A24 behind it. It’s maybe the first non-horror film that had me terrified of what was to come next purely out of anxiety and stress from all the build up the movie does. This is a really complicated movie to recommend to others as well. It’s a HEAVY subject material with the school shooting topic, and it just immerses you in that terror with Pattinson. You’re truly put in his shoes and sitting there at the end with your significant other asking “what would you do in this scenario?” And quite frankly, I have no fucking clue. This was wild and the layers it has to make the buildup to the wedding and the wedding itself even tougher to watch was masterful. Going into this blind was an excellent choice and man did it deliver.
Not only do Pattinson and Zendaya nail it, but the supporting cast is rock solid too. Alana Haim is the standout of that group. She is a huge driving force to the story and feels like a ticking time bomb building to the climax and just makes you so nervous when she gets to talking and gossiping at the wedding. The main storyline with Zendaya’s character all starts with her interactions with Alana’s character Rachel too, she is a key catalyst to the overall story. The deepest darkest secret Emma has does a great job of feeling too real and grounded in the tragedies of today’s society and I always applaud a movie that can take a sensitive topic like that and create such a great movie using it as a vehicle for the rest of the film’s aspects. It’s not easy at all, and the film had a perfect crescendo leading up to the wedding at the end. Your imagination made it feel like it was going to be significantly worse in almost unimaginable ways that you were hoping wouldn’t transpire on screen. I wonder if others also thought a certain thing would happen at the wedding that thankfully didn’t that was foreshadowed early with the bodies scattered bloody at the wedding in a quick flash.
I am a sucker for films that you can go in blind like this, expect and receive great performances from a top billed cast, and still be absolutely mesmerized by what the film ended up being by the end. Seriously, how can you not sit there and then wonder what you would do in that situation if you were Pattinson, but also if you were Zendaya. Just an absolutely insane film I am going to love recommending to people while also trying to tell them to be careful with such a recommendation. This kind of run this year by Zendaya and Pattinson respectively in their films is also crazy and we should not take it for granted the absolute gems we have gotten from them this year. Can’t wait to see what A24 and Kristoffer Borgli have up next for us.
The Cinema Speakeasy Theatre Room 
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