Sans Norse-mythos-based superhero movies, Natalie Portman has picked some really interesting projects after her Oscar for Black Swan. She did two Terrence Mallick movies (with mixed results), played one of the most iconic American political figures in an almost dream-like avant-garde, practically European film, lead an ensemble in a weird mind-bending abstract sci-fi horror flick, and now is in theatres as a spoilt pop star-diva suffering from PTSD in a heavily stylized examination of the vices that ail the modern society.
Unfortunately, though, Natalie Portman appears only about halfway through Vox Lux, written and directed by Brady Corbet. When she does enter the film, she is just as good as ever. She is both magnetic and elusive. Sympathetic and irritating. Heartbreaking and inspirational. She truly is a movie star and commands the screen as few others do. However, the movie around her is rather messy. Well intentioned, but messy. It is a movie that thinks it's smarter than it is and more profound than it is. This is only Corbet’s second feature as a director and it feels like he tried to cram everything that was swirling around in his head into this one movie not knowing if he will get the chance to make another one. There are so many themes running throughout the movie that hardly any of them are done complete justice. The two main ideas that the movie is interested in are the senseless nature of violence and the toxicity of fame. Apart from that, there are also themes of parenting, media ethics, religion, trauma, sexuality, and mental health. Not surprisingly, the movie only manages to dip its toes into each of these, often just summarizing the gist of its message in Willem Dafoe voiced narrations interspersed intermittently throughout the two-hour runtime.
Moreover, Vox Lux often feels over-directed. There are certainly some scenes which are enhanced by the director’s style, but there are just as many scenes where the director gets in the way and becomes distracting. The same is true for the editing, the score and pretty much every other choice made here. Too often style is given precedence over substance. And on top of that, there is no singular style but a mishmash of many different styles which can be a little disorienting at the beginning before you eventually get used to it.
This hyper-stylized approach is particularly a shame because it gets in the way of some very good performances. Other than the fantastic Natalie Portman as Celeste, there is a very good and very different turn by Jude Law as her shady manager. Also great is Raffey Cassidy as the younger version of Celeste. She has to carry the first half of the film and she does an admirable job of portraying the transition from innocent teen schoolgirl to a pop sensation. She is ably supported by Stacy Martin, who plays Celeste’s older sister. Finally, it would be wrong not to mention Willem Dafoe’s wonderfully gravelly voice that is able to somehow give credibility to some frankly pretentious monologues especially the one about how ironic it is that Celeste’s parents chose a Latin name for their daughter.
Overall, Vox Lux gets an A for effort. Amongst all the formulaic blockbusters and calculated awards bait, this is a movie that actually takes chances and tries to stand out. But just as important as it is too be bold, it is also important to show restraint and that’s where Vox Lux falters. However, it does display the great technical talent of the filmmaker and makes you look forward to what they do next.
