Rating: 3.5/5
What a tough movie to review! On paper, I like just about everything in this movie. The cast is tremendous, the worldbuilding is rich, and the music is genuinely moving at points. But the script is a colossal mess that undermines many of its themes with a baffling post-credit sequence. For example, the dance and music choreography is incredible, but the fight sequences are sloppy and lazy. We spend so much time learning layouts, meeting characters, and setting up threads that never get picked up or even mentioned again.
What works best in the movie is its exploration of how whiteness and cultural theft go hand in hand. The soul of this movie is black music, and it’s black music that draws out the vampires.
My working theory is that this started as a pilot for a Lovecraft Country-esque show that got an ending smushed onto it—something akin to Mulholland Dr. Adam’s theory is that this is a passion project that the director was too close to. Regardless, I’m hoping Ryan Coogler pulls a Ridley Scott and delivers a five-hour director’s cut that justifies the pile of loose ends.
Still, I want more movies like this to come out, and I never had a bad time. It also gets an additional half-star because one musical moment made me tear up.