Electra, 2025.
Directed by Hala Matar.
Starring Maria Bakalova, Jack Farthing, Daryl Wein, and Abigail Cowen.
SYNOPSIS:
A journalist and his female companion travel to interview a famous musician in Rome where a generous invite to a country estate becomes something much more than anyone expected.
There is a solid psychological thriller premise in co-writer/director Hala Matar’s Electra (penning the screenplay alongside Paul Sado and one of the film’s leads), Daryl Wein in that a man (Daryl Wein) has traveled to Rome posing as a music journalist pretending to be a couple with his friend (Abigail Cowen), with the intentions of worming his way into the luxurious countryside home of a fading rockstar (Jack Farthing) and his performance artist girlfriend (Maria Bakalova) to steal a painting for reasons gradually revealed to the audience. The painting in question appears to be a unicorn, according to the fake journalist Dylan, who claims it is historically famous and of high monetary value.
Using fake names with a rehearsed, fictional backstory of how they got together, Dylan clearly has more personal reasons for wanting to steal this painting. Meanwhile, Milo is desperate for publicity and is currently a trainwreck, in a shady type of open relationship, constantly hiding secrets, and seemingly unhappy despite his wealth and relationship with Francesca. He gives off Russell Brand vibes, albeit not as problematic; even if there are some skeletons in his closet, he has remorse over them. An in medias res opening also doesn’t hide that none of this will end well, showing one character from afar cleaning up a deadly mess while obfuscating who we are looking at.
However, it quickly becomes difficult to buy into this premise: Milo would surely have a team to run a background check and promptly find out that Dylan is not a journalist. That would also require more characters, which, presumably, wasn’t in the budget. Then there is the quirky tone, which is puzzling given that the story is attempting to explore something psychological. There are out-of-place video game aesthetic flourishes, distracting cartoonish sound effects, and some self-indulgence in the performance art. That’s directly at odds with some of the darker material about celebrity male power, abuse, guilty consciences, and revenge.
The copious amounts of performance art from both couples is meant to give these characters psychological depth, but Electra is a monotonous experience that has nowhere to go, stretching its running time either through botched delivery of the painting or Dylan and Lucy prolonging their stay at the countryside home, questioning the right time to try again. However, the more time they spend around the eccentric wealthy couple, who wonder what’s off about the relationship between Dylan and Lucy, with no self-awareness about their own fractured love, a rift develops between the two of them. Milo’s midlife crisis becomes more pronounced with sad, intoxicated confessions, whereas Lucy, the aspiring actress, genuinely likes Francesca.
Again, almost none of this actually plays like a psychological thriller, but rather something striving for misguided style. That’s also frustrating since there are some decent performances here, and the core of what the movie is about, alongside what Dylan is angry at Milo over, is compelling. It’s dumbfounding whatever Electra is trying to do with its tone. It only gets worse when one acknowledges the preposterous plotting.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd
