★★★☆
Dark Horse was labelled as ‘testing the limits of our sympathy’ by its director, Todd Solondz. In this sense, it is perhaps one of his most repulsive (this is a positive adjective when describing Solondz’s films) works because it often felt less of a dark comedy film and more of a simply ‘dark’ film. In this latest instalment of films about anguish in the suburbs, Solondz illustrates a character who will be far too close to home for many viewers. That character is Abe, who refers to himself as somewhat of a dark horse in the film, but in fact he is closer to the opposite; he works (or rather endlessly scrolls through eBay while allowing others to complete his work for him) at his father’s company and spends most of his time outside of work collecting toys, figures and memorabilia or complaining either about his family or to his family – with whom he still lives despite being the ripe old age of 35.
★★★☆
Dark Horse was labelled as ‘testing the limits of our sympathy’ by its director, Todd Solondz. In this sense, it is perhaps one of his most repulsive (this is a positive adjective when describing Solondz’s films) works because it often felt less of a dark comedy film and more of a simply ‘dark’ film. In this latest instalment of films about anguish in the suburbs, Solondz illustrates a character who will be far too close to home for many viewers. That character is Abe, who refers to himself as somewhat of a dark horse in the film, but in fact he is closer to the opposite; he works (or rather endlessly scrolls through eBay while allowing others to complete his work for him) at his father’s company and spends most of his time outside of work collecting toys, figures and memorabilia or complaining either about his family or to his family – with whom he still lives despite being the ripe old age of 35.
