Gonzalez looked at the giallo genre and realized all that anxiety about bodies and violence was always kind of queer and just decided to say it out loud.
setting it inside a gay porn production is honestly so inspired because it puts queer labor and desire right at the center of a genre that usually treats us like a cheap plot device.
there is a tenderness here toward the characters that dario argento could never replicate, a genuine reverence for queer bodies and queer grief that feels so new and necessary.
visually it’s just extraordinary. every frame looks like someone soaked an Argento film in expensive cologne and left it out in the rain. the deep reds, the cigarette smoke, the neon—immaculate.
the only issue is that Gonzalez trusts the vibes way more than the story, and at some point vibes alone stop being enough. the pacing in the second half loses all that controlled tension from the first act, the mystery mechanics are super loose, and vanessa paradis is doing such interesting work that the script doesn't always meet halfway.
but honestly i’d rather watch a flawed film doing something this specific and imperfect than something technically competent but completely empty.
a very solid 7
Gonzalez looked at the giallo genre and realized all that anxiety about bodies and violence was always kind of queer and just decided to say it out loud.
setting it inside a gay porn production is honestly so inspired because it puts queer labor and desire right at the center of a genre that usually treats us like a cheap plot device.
there is a tenderness here toward the characters that dario argento could never replicate, a genuine reverence for queer bodies and queer grief that feels so new and necessary.
visually it’s just extraordinary. every frame looks like someone soaked an Argento film in expensive cologne and left it out in the rain. the deep reds, the cigarette smoke, the neon—immaculate.
the only issue is that Gonzalez trusts the vibes way more than the story, and at some point vibes alone stop being enough. the pacing in the second half loses all that controlled tension from the first act, the mystery mechanics are super loose, and vanessa paradis is doing such interesting work that the script doesn't always meet halfway.
but honestly i’d rather watch a flawed film doing something this specific and imperfect than something technically competent but completely empty.
a very solid 7
