What an incredible audiovisual experience. I’ve seen people calling it ‘showy’, ‘over colour corrected’ or ‘disorienting’, which I think goes to show how accustomed audiences have become to the bland, unimaginative filmmaking served up by mainstream studio films. The soundtrack is also incredible, all of the needle drops are purposeful and every song bangs. Shults uses every tool at his disposal to create this emotionally reasonant experience; the blocking, lighting, aspect ratio, colour and sound choices are all very well thought out and serve the story. The performances are impressive. The story is surprising and interestingly structured, though the second half isn’t as much of an emotional rollercoaster as the first half. It kinda starts to lose its way in the third act, however. It introduces this new storyline relating to Lucas Hedges’ character, which I thought was unnecessary. It’s supposed to add some more meaning about different parental relationships, and while emotionally it hits the mark, the subtext remains vague and messy. Overall, it’s an impressive piece of work that’s recommended to fans of psychological dramas. Fans of PTA (and especially _Magnolia_) will probably get a lot out of this.

8/10