By Seth Lukas Hynes
Velvet Buzzsaw
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo and Toni Collette
Rated MA15+
The latest film from writer-director Dan Gilroy, Velvet Buzzsaw is an innovative, darkly amusing horror film that brings the ghost and slasher genres into the cut-throat context of the art world.
After an art dealer’s assistant uncovers a wealth of paintings by deceased, tormented artist Vetril Dease, a dark power strikes out with strange visions and grisly accidents against anyone profiting from these disturbing paintings.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo, who both starred in Gilroy’s 2014 directorial debut Nightcrawler, anchor the film with engagingly unlikeable performances. Russo is cunning and coldly charismatic as high-powered art dealer Rhodora, and Gyllenhaal plays superficially sweet yet immensely vain art critic Morf.
The paranormal rules of Velvet Buzzsaw’s world are clearly-established from the onset: a vengeful artist’s spirit is attacking the main characters through his paintings. You would think this explicit set-up would negate the tension, but Velvet Buzzsaw generates a sense of grim anticipation, a trait it shares with the slasher genre, as Morf’s mental state deteriorates and you wait in expectant dread for each character to be picked off.
Unfortunately, the pacing is erratic: certain sub-plots involving a successful graffiti artist (Daveed Diggs) and a burnt-out painter (John Malkovich), and even Dease’s own violent history, are shown too sparsely to carry much impact.
While slightly disjointed, Velvet Buzzsaw is a stylish and unnerving supernatural thriller, and is available for streaming on Netflix.
