The Beguiled Movie Review #TheBeguiled

I recently had the chance to go back to LA to interview Sofia Coppola, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning on their roles in the upcoming The Beguiled movie. If you are like me with a dad who loves that type of film then you may have grown up seeing the 1971 version with Clint Eastwood. I don’t want to say I didn’t enjoy it but I feel like maybe I wasn’t the target audience for that movie.  I was definitely interested in the story though so when I was invited to see The Beguiled directed by Sofia Coppola then I wanted to see what her take on it was. She is such an amazing director and writer that I knew it was going to be good. I was just worried it was going to have torture. The preview looks like a lot of torture.

“The Beguiled” is an atmospheric thriller from acclaimed writer/director Sofia Coppola. The story unfolds during the Civil War, at a Southern girls’ boarding school. Its sheltered young women take in an injured enemy soldier. As they provide refuge and tend to his wounds, the house is taken over with sexual tension and dangerous rivalries, and taboos are broken in an unexpected turn of events.

During my interview with Sofia Coppola, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning, I learned how much work goes into making a new movie look old but still connect with a modern audience. You should definitely check out my interview because it was fantastic and I loved talking with such a strong group of women. It was shot on film as opposed to digital media like usual to keep that old feel and the score was very minimalist to keep the tension in the air. Coppola had me on the edge of my seat with this film wondering when everyone was going to explode because I could FEEL the tension. It was leaking everywhere and I was just waiting for that one moment.

It was scary in a way and more psychological in another. I was wondering what was going to happen next through the whole film and that messes with your head a bit. Brilliant screenplay. It does have a slow feel to it through most of the film but you need that to really appreciate the explosive events that lead everyone to break. Everyone has their breaking point and it was nice to see each character, even the young girls, show their point in a different way. All the girls in this film were great actresses especially Elle Fanning. It was so weird to see her be so conniving in this film. She is usually so sweet.

This film has so much sexual tension and turmoil. All the girls are experiencing the war in different ways and they react to having a stranger in their house. The war takes it toil on the older women even more and it changes them. Kirsten Dunst shows her character being so repressed and solemn. She has accepted her fate and just keeps on going. Wheres Nicole Kidman has to stay strong and show that she can take whatever is thrown her way as the head of the house.  Colin Farrell is such a character that he can manipulate each character’s turmoil. He starts with the youngest and works his way through the ladies. I always tell everyone that if i had a super power then I would want to have charisma. The kind of charisma that I could get anyone to do anything. That is what kind of character he plays and he does it so smartly. Every character has their awakening and breaking. This film just shows such character development that I am in awe of Sofia Coppola’s storytelling skills.

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The Beguiled is in select theaters June 23 and nationwide June 30, 2017