Serenity (2019)

Director: Steven Knight
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane
Runtime: 106 minutes

Synopsis: A fisherman's past comes back to haunt him, making him question a lot of things along the way.

Performances: 4/10
Screenplay: 2/10
Costumes/Makeup: 6/10
Editing: 4/10
Cinematography: 3/10
Score/Soundtrack: 2/10

Verdict: After his successful directorial debut with "Locke" back in 2013, as well as his well-known writing skills which earned him an Oscar nomination in 2002 for "Dirty Pretty Things", I was eager to check out Steven Knight's newest project where he assumes both roles once again. And boy was I let down. "Serenity" reminded me a lot of "Collateral Beauty", a movie released in 2016 that takes an interesting concept and butchers it with its bad execution and conflicting tone. Knight's film, which stars some of Hollywood's biggest names such as Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane, Jason Clarke or Djimon Hounsou in roles so uninteresting and over the top that relating to any one of them proved to be nearly impossible, never knows what it wants to be, and clearly suffers from it. It was evident that every person involved in its production didn't fully understand the director's vision, leading us, as viewers, to lose interest very quickly. The second half of the movie, which shifts in an entirely new direction that didn't make a whole lot of sense, introduced an exciting concept that, if handled properly, would've made the experience a much more enjoyable one despite it not being entirely original. "Serenity" is a mess from start to finish, and definitely not a movie I'll be revisiting any time soon, which is a shame considering the talent behind it.     

FINAL GRADE: 3/10