Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (360)

Content

Joe Julians (221 KP) rated Suburbicon (2017) in Movies

Jan 30, 2018

Suburbicon (2017)

2017 | Crime, Drama, Mystery

6.0

(18 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Good performances (1 more)

Well shot

Muddled story (1 more)

Messy narrative

Despite a promising and fun fist couple of minutes, it quickly becomes clear that Suburbicon is both a missed opportunity and a jumbled attempt at constructing a story.

On the one hand, we have a black family moving into the area and being subjected to abuse and extreme prejudice, and on the other, a family hiding a dirty secret about a home invasion that led to the death of the mother. The problem is, neither of these plots is given the right amount of attention. The racial story is by far the most interesting here, yet it's relegated to a side plot and, with the exception of the young boy, none of the family get a chance to develop into actual characters. Then you have the murder story which takes up the bulk of the running time, but it's neither fresh nor original- it's actually rather dull.

Despite being beautifully shot and occasionally amusing (Matt Damon on a kid's bike), Suburbicon ends up being a bit of a slog. It's a mish mash of ideas and tones that don't come close to forming a coherent story. There's decent performances to be found, but beyond that- don't expect much.