8/10
Tense, opaque, frustrating, then suddenly violent. So: maybe a perfect mob movie.
30 December 2020
The experience of the movie is the experience of Jean (Rachel Brosnahan). That's on purpose, so if you can't handle a crying baby or not knowing what is happening, and only sloooowly figuring out what is going on: yup that's the point. It's annoying, harrowing, and helps explain some of the actions she takes in the movie.

The conceit is to look at what happens to some of the more peripheral characters in the typical mobster movie. When the wife is sent off with a trusted cohort, what happens? How unpleasant is it to not be in the know? To find you NEVER were in the know about anything, and slowly find out the truth of many things about your life.

Even those who rated it well, I will note, say that it's not got action etc. Wrong. It has Meaningful Action. You really, really start learning the stakes, and get paranoid about everything while watching. When there is a sudden burst of violence, it is both unexpectedly all the more frightening, and the probability of a violent outcome are very clear. Violence builds slowly, then happens suddenly. Like reality. People who hold others at gunpoint get shot by people not stupid enough to talk about it first.

Great movie, really makes me weep for civilization at all the low ratings.
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