Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

Director: Dan Gilroy
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Zawe Ashton
Runtime: 112 minutes

Synopsis: Mysterious events start happening after the death of an unknown painter.

Performances: 8/10
Screenplay: 3/10
Costumes/Makeup: 8/10
Editing: 5/10
Cinematography: 6/10
Score/Soundtrack: 7/10

Verdict: The first association between Dan Gilroy and Jake Gyllenhaal resulted in the making of "Nightcrawler", arguably one of the best movies released in 2014. The pair's second project, which follows a group of art critics and exhibitors haunted by the work of a deceased artist, didn't quite work as well as the first.

The film felt like a less fun and more pretentious entry in the Final Destination franchise. It tried to present itself as this giant metaphor for greed but is ultimately let down by the overwhelmingly large number of underdeveloped characters and chaotic script that leaves you with the feeling that there's always a lot of things happening simultaneously, creating a feeling of confusion more than anything else.

"Velvet Buzzsaw" is only slightly saved by the quality of the performances of an all-star cast that quite frankly deserved better than what they got. The costume design, as well as the creepy score written by Marco Belrami, were also the highlight of an otherwise extremely disappointing film.

FINAL GRADE: 4/10