“Heathers meets American Psycho”

Eh…

Connecticut, home to rich elite Democrats who value lawns and driveways so they don’t live in New York City. Apparently, it is also the home to sociopathic teenagers who have to buy their friends and mull over killing people in order to bring any sense of joy to their miserable existence…so yeah they nailed Connecticut.

Thoroughbreds is the story of a girl named Amanda (Olivia Cooke), who one night decides to viciously kill her horse with a knife becoming the pariah of the town. Amanda who displays the personality of a textbook sociopath reconnects with her old friend Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) who has an unfavorable relationship with her stepfather. One night, the girls come up with the idea to kill Lily’s stepdad and get away with it but of course, because they are teen girls who have no concept of organized murder, their very shotty plan falls apart and for one of them, takes a turn for the worst.

I didn’t expect Thoroughbreds to be a style over substance film so I was quite surprised at how dull it was for a dark comedy. It feels like for years Hollywood has tried to recreate the lightning in a bottle they got from Heathers by reimagining the premise of rich teenage homicidal girls but what they always seem to miss is the charm of that film because Thoroughbreds is anything but charming.

Olivia Cooke plays a cold heartless shell of a human by design so what ends up happening is you feel as disconnected to her character as she does to her surroundings. What makes this dynamic even worse is that you later realize, she isn’t even the worse person in the film as far as personality goes. This has become a major disconnect with modern day filmmakers. They tend to create characters that they believe are likable and relatable but the problem is they are only relatable to the worst people in society, thus you have a disconnected audience.

Thoroughbreds is set up as if it has something to say but it doesn’t even deliver on being a satire of suburban elites. If you are looking for a black comedy, this isn’t it. Instead, Thoroughbreds is a dry thriller that isn’t as witty as it believes. 

1.5/5

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