As many others have said, this film is a masterpiece of beautiful pretentious nonsense. Though every character comments on protagonist Jesse's otherworldly beauty and magnetic allure, it never really comes across onscreen. She might look the part but she ultimately lacks the necessary charisma to make the role convincing. The plot takes forever to get to the point and when it does it trades subtlety and minimalism for grotesque over-the-top melodrama. Instead of becoming fleshed out and developed as the story continues, the characters turn from vapid stereotypes to absurd caricatures in the space of about five minutes with no real explanation.
However it crosses the line from poor taste into straight out offensive when the film's lesbian character Ruby (following a failed attempt to rape the virginal Jesse) proceeds to molest a woman's corpse. She later conspires with models Gigi and Sarah to kill Jesse and eat her flesh and Ruby's final scene of the film shows her lying naked on the floor as blood gushes from her vagina. It's super gross.
While Ruby isn't the only woman in the film portrayed as monstrous and grotesque, she is the only one whose depravity is distinctly sexual. Unlike the other women who are driven to commit horrifying acts due to a jealous obsession with absorbing Jesse's youth and vitality, Ruby is driven instead by a pathetic yearning for intimacy which grows into sexual obsession.
She becomes yet another in a long history of fictional lesbians who are emotionally unstable, obsessive, lonely, desperate sexual predators incapable of any real connection. Ruthless and revolting though they are, Gigi and Sarah's friendship at least feels genuine and they are there for each other up until the very end - while Ruby dies elsewhere alone in an empty room.
Ultimately, despite all the artsy symbolism, there is nothing original or deep about this film and - ironically for a film that claims to critique the cruel and shallow nature of the fashion industry - the only new and interesting thing about this film are the visuals.
Review by DeletedBlockedParent2016-12-31T11:26:52Z
As many others have said, this film is a masterpiece of beautiful pretentious nonsense. Though every character comments on protagonist Jesse's otherworldly beauty and magnetic allure, it never really comes across onscreen. She might look the part but she ultimately lacks the necessary charisma to make the role convincing. The plot takes forever to get to the point and when it does it trades subtlety and minimalism for grotesque over-the-top melodrama. Instead of becoming fleshed out and developed as the story continues, the characters turn from vapid stereotypes to absurd caricatures in the space of about five minutes with no real explanation.
However it crosses the line from poor taste into straight out offensive when the film's lesbian character Ruby (following a failed attempt to rape the virginal Jesse) proceeds to molest a woman's corpse. She later conspires with models Gigi and Sarah to kill Jesse and eat her flesh and Ruby's final scene of the film shows her lying naked on the floor as blood gushes from her vagina. It's super gross.
While Ruby isn't the only woman in the film portrayed as monstrous and grotesque, she is the only one whose depravity is distinctly sexual. Unlike the other women who are driven to commit horrifying acts due to a jealous obsession with absorbing Jesse's youth and vitality, Ruby is driven instead by a pathetic yearning for intimacy which grows into sexual obsession.
She becomes yet another in a long history of fictional lesbians who are emotionally unstable, obsessive, lonely, desperate sexual predators incapable of any real connection. Ruthless and revolting though they are, Gigi and Sarah's friendship at least feels genuine and they are there for each other up until the very end - while Ruby dies elsewhere alone in an empty room.
Ultimately, despite all the artsy symbolism, there is nothing original or deep about this film and - ironically for a film that claims to critique the cruel and shallow nature of the fashion industry - the only new and interesting thing about this film are the visuals.