Whilst the Fall film circuit is usually all about singing the praises of the various films showing and judging their potential awards chances, some movies are met with a harsher reception.
The recent Venice, Telluride and Toronto film festivals already claimed some victims with Chris Pine’s “Poolman,” Brian Helgeland’s “Finestkind,” Kristin Scott Thomas’ “North Star” and David Yates’ “Pain Hustlers” all getting widely negative reviews according to Rotten Tomatoes.
In addition, the reaction was decidedly mixed for Taika Waititi’s “Next Goal Wins,” Harmony Korine’s “Aggro Dr1ft,” Michael Keaton’s “Knox Goes Away” and Grant Singer’s “Reptile”.
Now the New York Film Festival is underway and has already seen another join the ranks with “Lion” director Garth Davis’ new sci-fi romance drama thriller “Foe” starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal.
With thirteen reviews counted, the film currently sits at just 23% (4.7/10) on Rotten Tomatoes. Here’s a sampling of reviews so far:
“Initially unsettling but steadily devolves into sappiness, confusion and self-important solemnity.” – David Rooney, THR
“Mescal and Ronan both excel at sinking into themselves, with the latter’s irrepressible force of will squeezing against the walls of the musty farmhouse as if her life were a shoe five sizes too small.” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire
“There’s plenty of ambition and talent, but without the crisp engine of story, it’s as dry as 2065 dirt” – Adrian Horton, The Guardian
“At every turn, Garth Davis’s Foe not only fails to adequately redress or rework played-out tropes within its high-concept world, but its examination of marriage and identity is also hackneyed.” – Kyle Turner, Slant Magazine
“A mess of concepts, issues, and messages, an amalgamation of errors in tone and story” – Michael Frank, The Film Stage
“There is indeed some attempt at substance here, but it’s buried under layers of nonsensical storytelling and clumsy dialogue. Not even its prestigious stars can sell it.” – Belen Edwards, Mashable
The film is set in 2065 where corporate power and environmental decay are ravaging the planet. Mescal and Ronan play a young married couple who farm a secluded piece of land that has been in his family for generations.
Their quiet, solitary life is thrown into turmoil when an uninvited stranger shows up at their door with a startling proposal. The stranger (Aaron Pierre) reveals that the husband has been randomly selected to travel to a large, experimental space station orbiting Earth for two years.
The strange part? Arrangements have already been made so that when he leaves, the wife won’t have a chance to miss him as a biomechanical duplicate of the husband will be there.
The film will be released exclusively in cinemas by Amazon on October 6th.
