ILLUSIONS !!
PRAISE: Director Zoe Kravitz and Co writer E.T. Feigenbaum take specific controversial subject matter ,fame,the pleasures of life and celebrity worship and put a darkly comic comedic spin on it. Most of the movie works for the most part and it's no wonder there is a trigger Warning for this film because it's a huge reflection of horrible situations people have experienced in real life. Channing Tatum does really well as mogul Slater King . He's charming,nice,attentive and giving. As Frida Naomi Ackie is very believable as a woman who falls under his spell. The way she fawns all over him and the casting of a certain actor actually reminded me of a couple of characters from the movie Showgirls. It's easy to see how things and the illusion works because of the invitation to a beautiful island and the liquor and psychedelics are flowing and dinner seems to be at nine,the sun is shining and the women are fine. But something sinister may be simmering beneath the pleasure.Kravitz not only wants the characters to lose themselves in the indulgences they are engaging in but the audience watching the movie too. There's a good who's who in the casting including: Alia Shawkat Adria Arjona, Camilla Liz Caribel, Trew Mullen,Geena Davis, Christian Slater, Simon Rex, and Haley Joel Osment. When the blood and gore starts flowing i thought it was amusing at times because of the way things are set up in the movie.I thought the path of a character was going a certain way and said Oh they are going to try and make me think a certain way about the character and I liked how that was played with.
PROBLEMS: I thought some parts of the movie were overdone in such a repetitive way that it loses the fun of the dark humor and jump scares. I wanted more from the ending which felt kind of basic around its edges.I also felt there was some contradiction tied to the ending.
Scale of 1 to 10 an 8