Sam Clover

My Rating: 7/10

So. Okay. Honestly, guys, I went into this movie real blind. Zen picked it out, and I just assumed he was going to pick a rom-com. Little did I know I was about to embark on a wild, Equestrian fever dream adventure.

We’re introduced to Cassius in a job interview. He’s clearly a creative guy right off the bat, if a little desperate. And throughout the first half of the movie, I’m convinced this is a Kevin Smith sorta film, in the sense that the whole point is the character dynamics, the conversations, deep and shallow, the statements in the subtext, etc.

Underlying themes grow heavier as we progress: capitalism, corporate racism, classism, the violence of privilege. Cassius seems to drift in and out of experiences with people. It’s hard to describe this character, but I want to, because it stood out to me. Even when this man hits his stride, he still feels like he’s drifting. Like he’s not quite there. Like he fits in but doesn’t. Like he knows something they don’t, and his fantasies, his darkness, his imagination as it teeters on a perpetual existential crisis, all exist on a completely different plane from everybody else.

He is a deeply intricate character, but it’s all between the lines. LaKeith Stanfield portrays the character so well, it’s goddamn mesmerizing.

In the beginning, the fantasy elements are sprinkled in as imagination, but over the course of the movie they blur into reality. It reaches a fever pitch of absurdity as it takes wild, bending turns I certainly didn’t see coming, so if you’re looking for an unpredictable, dark comedy with elements of fantasy, sci-fi, splashes of horror and spiraling statements about corporatism and social justice, this may be the movie for you.

I didn’t find it particularly funny myself. I think that’s more because the humour was far more cerebral and I was too busy getting swept away by the messages behind it to be tickled. That isn’t a failing on the movie’s part, more a note that though it’s categorized as a comedy, and certainly is in a dark, fucked up way, this brand of humour may not leave you in stitches. I’m not sure that it’s even meant to. There’s so much more to it.

Definitely a must watch. First half is slow, and if you’re tempted to stop watching, I definitely recommend holding out for the second half. Even if just for the conversation fodder, because it is an experience and a half.

More Movie Reviews:

• Next — Action, Thriller
• Don’t Listen — Horror
• Escape Room — Horror
• The Call — Horror
• Rebecca — Suspense, Romance
• The Perfect Date — Romance, Comedy

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