This movie got buried. Not sure why – it’s f**king awesome! Here’s our Vox Lux review.
Written and directed with serious aesthetic panache by Brady Corbet (from a story he co-wrote with Mona Fastvold), this is the grittier side of A Star is Born, and far more compelling and bold from where I sit.
The startling narrative pivots on Celeste, a musically gifted 13-year-old who survives a school shooting at her Staten Island high school in 1999.
When she sings an emotionally shattering song at the memorial service, it goes viral, and she becomes an instant star, with her sister and a talent manager guiding her along through the big leagues. How terrorism informs the world we live in, and how celebrity culture deals with these issues, is also at the thematic forefront.
We then flash forward 18 years and we find a drugged-out Celeste about to make a huge comeback, both professionally and personally, but will her addictions threaten to destroy a massive concert that she’s about to perform in? And will all of the volatile relationships that surround her life threaten to sink it?
This deceptively rich narrative touches upon the idea of true talent being homogenized into pop-nothingness, with the film skillfully walking a fine balance between satire, melodrama, and stylized concert film.
This is a rigorous piece of work that is formally exciting and filled with magnificent performances and moments of technical virtuosity. Corbet clearly has studied and clearly loves his Steadicam operator.
Arriving at the 45 minute mark and then blazing her way across the screen for the next 75, Natalie Portman went all in as the older Celeste – she could quit her day job as one of the screen’s most alluring and magnetic of performers, and she could easily become a singing sensation (she did all of her own vocal work), to say nothing of her ability to physically work the stage like any recent music superstar.
Jude Law is perfectly sleazy as the manager whose heart is ultimately in the proper place, and in dual roles (as the younger Celeste and then as Celeste’s teenager daughter in the second and third acts) Raffey Cassidy really shines as the budding singing prodigy, who after a chilling introduction during the school massacre gets to blossom into something special and unexpected.
Special shout-out to make-up artist Mara Capps and costume designer Keri Langerman who delivered the goods in their respective departments; everything about this movie felt impressively handled and like the product of a true directorial vision that felt uncompromised.
Vox Lux is available on Blu-ray/DVD and via various streaming providers, and the film, especially Portman’s stunning performance, got robbed of some awards consideration last year.
Review by Nick Clement
Our Rating
Summary
The expressive and visually dynamic cinematography by Lol Crawley was in perfect tandem with the well-timed and judicious editing by Matthew Hannam, while the catchy pop-songs and all-together beguiling soundtrack were crafted by Sia and Scott Walker, all of which could easily become #1 hits on the radio or whatever the kids listen to music on these days.
