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10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 FEBRUARY 2019 FILM FILM THE existence of 'Netflix Originals' films – which now boasts even the likes of the Coen brothers among their number – has appeared like a bolt in the blue to cut through the swathe of superhero-bur- dened mainstream blockbust- ers that infect the multiplexes. Existing in parallel to the new age of high-quality serialised television, they dangle the promise of both artistic free- dom and relevance to contem- porary filmmakers, otherwise forced to resign themselves to relative arthouse obscurity, or co-option into a system that's mainly interested in making films based on comic books and bestselling young adult book series. However, the streaming ser- vice's track record of original feature-length film has so far proven to be patchy at best, even when the biggest names in the industry are drafted into the endeavour… presumably in an attempt to bolster the artistic legitimacy of this rela- tively newfangled endeavour. Unfortunately, the promising (re) team-up of writer-director Dan Gilroy with actors Jake Gyllenhall and Rene Russo, following their crackling col- laboration on Nightcrawler (2014) is a further black mark to Netflix's working methods, offering up a patchy take on a story that otherwise bristles with raw potential. Hobbled as he may be by the grotesque name that announc- es him, bisexual art critic Morf Vandewalt (Gyllenhall) is not, after all, too unusual a speci- men in his kooky though rar- efied social and professional circle: that of LA's contempo- rary art scene, whose queen bees are gallery impresarios Rhodora Haze (Rene Russo) and Gretchen (Toni Collette). Smooching and backstabbing their way up the social ladder – superficially using art as a stepping stone all the while – our swarm of snarling vultures are always on the prowl for the next big thing… until one day, it emerges from the lit- eral ashes of the neighbouring apartment of Josephina (Zawe Ashton), who discovers its re- clusive occupant after he drops dead in the hallway, to reveal an apartment full of startling outsider art. But as Morf and Josephina set about to uncover the prov- enance of these startling paint- ings to ascertain their value, the works begin to trigger an unsettling chain of events. Satires of the top echelons of the art world always make for a fun watch, because who doesn't appreciate a skewering of a class so pretentious and up themselves as the pretentious purveyors and cynical specula- tors who make up that rarefied scene? But this latest salvo from Gil- roy – who certainly proved he could handle dark satire with the Gyllenhall-starring gutter- media takedown Nightcrawler – fails to wring all the juice from its concept, largely as a result of what appears to be the inherent sloppiness of the Netflix model. With far too many characters to juggle and a final act that operates on a facile, barely es- tablished swerve into the facile supernatural, the film feels like it's finished before it can even begin. Thankfully, the script is laced with a prolonged, con- sistent sting… Gilroy has a tal- ent for the amoral, bitchy but appealing character, line and motif. A recurring gag involv- ing Natalia Dyer from Stranger Things – here playing Coco, a lamb-to-the-slaughter as- sistant – is blackly amusing, and Toni Collette continues her post-Hereditary winning streak by going full bitch with Gretchen; dressed and dyed in deceptively shimmering white, with a pearly rictus to match. Jake Gyllenhall and Rene Russo re-unite with 'Nightcrawler' writer-director Dan Gilroy for a satire that swerves into Netf lix mediocrity all too soon VELVET BUZZSAW CHAINSAW MASSACRE BLUNT INSTRUMENT RUSTY KNIFE THE UNKINDEST CUT OF ALL ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ The verdict With a script rich in appeal- ing take-downs and barbs of a social subset that's incredi- bly easy to hate, and an inher- ently appealing core concept that brims with potential, Velvet Buzzsaw never quite rises to the occasion, deliv- ering a messily put-together product that in the end sim- ply goes through the motions when it should be twisting and dazzling at every turn. Velvet Buzzsaw is currently streaming on Netflix Yet another Netflix letdown V E LV E T B U Z Z S A W ( 16 + ) Teodor Reljic Critique is so limiting Jake Gyllenhall and Rene Russo attempt to puzzle out the mystery of an alluring outsider artist in this appealing but inconsistent art-world satire- cum-horror film Having a moment: Toni Collette