Kelly and writer Jack Donnelly attempt to subvert genre conventions in a rather flat and uninteresting manner. The casting of Glusman in the pivotal role of lover/stalker is inappropriate. There’s no guile in his performance, his portrayal of the character is immediately faulty
Pretty Things review
Film: Pretty Thing
Cast: Alicia Silverstone, Karl Glusman, Catherine Curtin, Britne Oldford, Tammy Blanchard, John Wollman, Esteban Benito
Director/ Editor : Justin Kelly
Rating: 1.5/5
Runtime: 96 min
Pretty Thing on Lionsgate Play is an inversion of the Fatal Attraction dynamic where the man is the crazed stalker and the woman is the well-to-do target. In this film it’s a lowly young waiter Elliott (Karl Glusman) and a high achieving marketing head, the much older Sophie (Alicia Silverstone) who give in to instant passion.
Justin Kelly’s erotic thriller turns a chance sexual encounter that leads to good times in Paris, into one that is hellish. Elliott, dependent on his ever doting mama, is a closet photographer who gets to live his dream when in Paris. A once demurring Elliott soon begins to believe in the power of his love for Sophie but the latter is now least interested. The jilted lover won’t take no for an answer. Sophie gets stalked, harassed over the phone, has her home broken into while she’s sleeping, and later, sexually humiliated to the point where her hard-won career is under threat. So Sophie, getting pretty fed up, mounts a counter attack.
The sexual encounters between Elliott and Sophie, though going through the motions, fails to heat up the screen. There’s really no suspense or paranoia build-up even when familiar scenes of malicious behavior play out. The emotional instability displayed by both characters fails to lend credibility to this vapid construct. Don’t expect any psychological exploration here. Both characters don’t have much of a back story. They just exist so they are. So it’s hard to empathise with either of their plights.
This is a rather unappealing riff on erotic thrillers. Kelly and writer Jack Donnelly attempt to subvert genre conventions in a rather flat and uninteresting manner. The casting of Glusman in the pivotal role of lover/stalker is inappropriate. There’s no guile in his performance, his portrayal of the character is immediately faulty. He comes across as demented and unappealing from the get go. Despite the explicit scenes between Silverstone and Glusman, we don’t see any spark to light up our imagination. Their sexual encounters leave you cold and make you wonder why Elliott would get so obsessed. The construction of the affair is also quite unremarkable. The lighting isn’t appealing and the cinematography leaves a lot to be desired. There’s literally no chemistry between the two. They go through the motions of a torrid affair but their tepid performance nixes believability.
Matthew Klammer’s cinematography is all dark and gloomy, one that fails to set the mood. Tim Kvasnosky’s ominous score, telegraphs negativity even when the twosome are torrid in the act. ‘Pretty Thing’ isn’t as pretty as the name suggests - its just a blunt retributive serving trying to bridge the gender gap.
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