Notable Cast: Dakota Fanning, Kathryn Hunter, Mary
McCormack, Rachel Blanchard, Devyn Nekoda, Klea Scott, Emily Mitchell
"There are no mistakes. Only choices. Right and
wrong. You saw what you wanted. You gave what you wanted to give. But did you
truly need it, Auntie P? Or did you truly need to give something easy? You must
suffer not to suffer. Are you ready to play more? What do you love? What do you
love? Think hard. Real hard."
There's a lot of hate for Vicious out in the world
right now. Far more than expected, possibly due to the film finding itself in
the dredges of Paramount Plus, but Vicious is probably writer/director
Byran Bertino being the most Bryan Bertino as possible. If you've seen any of
his films before (The Strangers, The Dark and the Wicked, Monster),
then you already know this man is nihilistic as fuck. And boy, howdy, Vicious
lives up its title in terms of “feel good movie of the year.”
And where The Strangers' message of random violence
and terror within the safety of the home is answered with a single line of
chilling dialogue, Vicious is far more about the existential horrors of
one's life than the randomness of an outside evil. For better or worse, and
considering how audiences have treated the film—more than likely the latter—this
is a film with no clear answers to its horrors. It's Richard Matheson's
"Button, Button" for a modern generation repeatedly told things about
their lives and then presented with choices, feelings, and futures that never
align. Vicious is, as its title would indicate, a maliciously toned film
about the choices people make and how often those choices feel wrong or
meaningless, no matter what they are.
For Polly (Dakota Fanning), living on her own is a struggle.
She struggles to find motivation to work a thankless job or to find meaning in
what she already has. When an elderly woman (Katheryn Hunter) knocks on her door late one
snowy night, she’s presented with a box and a promise that she will die tonight
unless she gives the box what it wants. Something that Polly loves. Something
she hates. Something she needs.
Now, granted, I could spend endless words and characters
debating the meanings and choices in Vicious and how they relate to Dakota
Fanning's protagonist, Polly, her life, and how the film presents her situation
within the narrative. This is a film ripe for debate regarding what Bertino
wants to say about "choices." The film is intentionally vague about
much of its plotting, characters' histories, and the truths behind its plot
points and character information. However, it's a film best digested as an
experience with its audience rather than one critic aping on about how
misunderstood this film is as a slice of socio-political commentary on the
current human condition, cyclical trauma, the cruelty of choice, or trying to
find oneself in their own future. So I digress.
As a horror film, Vicious is a small, intimate story that Bertino loves to hell. Fanning is Polly, a lost soul (who definitely comes from money, considering that house when her boss is calling her to work a double at some nameless job), who is given the impressive task of anchoring a film about existential horrors in just a few locations with little in the way of co-stars to feed off of. Fanning has become quite the genre darling in recent years, and she gets to showcase some solid work here. The secondary cast supports well, with distinct moments for each small role (and the choice that every central character is a woman is certainly ripe for discussion, since Bertino makes CHOICES). Overall, the performances benefit the film's nightmarish tones and logic without coming off as intentionally over-the-top.
Of course, it is the film's style that remains the reason to
see Vicious. Style isn't the best word; tone and atmosphere are. Like
his other films, Bertino loves to slather his films in atmosphere. The use of
clutter (or not), mirrors, doors, the snowy landscape outside the home, the
yellow lighting (which gives everything a fiery, perhaps sickly glow in Polly's
house, for sure), and how he shoots the tension are palpable. The jump scares
that erupt from it, which occasionally feel a tad forced, do pop that tension,
but they are almost unnecessary for the horrors of its concept. Some are good,
some less so, like a closet scare that feels nearly too scripted and obvious,
but with atmosphere like this, I'm already sold on it.
Truthfully, between the stark visuals, tone and atmosphere,
performances, and overall concept, I'm shocked there aren't more folks fighting
for Vicious. Its nightmare logic narrative is enough to drive some folks
mad, as it does for Polly, but it gives the film this almost classic
Poe/Lovecraft descent into the madness that genuinely worked for me through and
through. Sure, the film's lack of answers to its big, often muddied questions
is sure to piss some viewers off, but I challenge you this year to go into Vicious
not looking for answers, but just to digest the questions for their complexity.
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