Thoroughbreds is a twisted and darkly funny coming-of-age debut film about what it means to be evil
Thoroughbreds is about evil. What makes someone evil? However, it begs that question in two ways. What makes someone evil—meaning what action or actions that a person takes that makes them considered evil—and what makes someone evil—in that what happens in someone's genetics or upbringing that could make them evil. The film, however, is more opaque than that. Director Cory Finney's first feature is a subversive coming-of-age that is deliciously twisted and bleakly hilarious in a way that we haven't seen since Park Chan-Wook's Stoker.
The characters in Thoroughbreds come from privilege and imbue everything that comes with that. Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy following up her breakout roles in The Witch and Split) is a polished and intelligent boarding school girl who has countless prospects in life. Amanda (Olivia Cooke), on the other hand, could simply care less about what life has in store for her. She admittedly is completely devoid of emotion and can't even process it in other people. However, the two were old friends and have again started to talk to each other, even though they both know that it's because Amanda's mother Karen (Kaili Vernoff) paid Lily to casually tutor her.
The two girls haven't spoken to each other in years since drifting apart after middle school—the way it always goes—and Lily is clearly hesitant to interact with Amanda after she euthanized her injured horse with nothing but a knife. And while their reunion is uneasy, the quickly bond over one thing: Lily's contempt for her stepfather Mark (Paul Sparks). Amanda quickly dispatches an easy solution: murder Mark.
Like most film noir's, which Finley used as the basic structure, Thoroughbreds is interested in the morality of its character's actions. Much of the film's lean 90-minute running time is spent with the pair debating the absurd plan's ethics in darkly funny exchanges. Cooke delivers Amanda's dialogue with a pointed deadpan that always seems to get to Taylor-Joy's Lily. Connecting back to the central question of the movie, Amanda is the makes question and Lily is the what question.
“You cannot hesitate. The only thing worse than being incompetent, or being unkind, or being evil, is being indecisive.”
— Amanda (Olivia Cooke), Thoroughbreds
Eventually, the low-level drug dealer Tim (Anton Yelchin in one of his final film roles before his tragic death) is introduced into the story. His kicked assumed tough guy exterior mixed with a kick puppy dog endearment makes him an interesting third wheel in the story. He serves as a bridge between the two extremes of the girl. He may be doing something harmful—dealing drugs to teenagers—but he's doing it for a noble purpose—pursuing his slice of the American dream. Yelchin's performance just makes the sting of losing him even worse. Few actors could both endear themselves to an audience with characters that don't always deserve it.
The girls plan to use Tim as a hitman to murder Mark, who Sparks plays absolutely despicably with few redeeming qualities if any. But does he truly deserve to die for that? Instead of going for genre thrills, Thoroughbreds is more meditative than that. Case in point, a climactic scene is a single image that doesn't change except for the sounds we hear just outside the frame. This may be Finley's first film, but he's extremely assured as a director.
Thoroughbreds is a perfect example of various elements coming together to make a great film. Taylor-Joy and Cooke deliver incredible performances that act as foils to one another while Yelchin, though limited in screentime, acts as an emotional grounding for the film. The twisted but simple plot is expertly stitched together by Louise Ford and scored by Erik Friedlander—one of the best movie scores of the year. And at the core is a stunning feature debut by Finley. The movie flies by, but it's impactful and daring. Thoroughbreds is one of the year's best.
Thoroughbreds is available to watch on Amazon ➤
Karl's rating:
Hey, I'm Karl, founder and film critic at Smash Cut. I started Smash Cut in 2014 to share my love of movies and give a perspective I haven't yet seen represented. I'm also an editor at The New York Times, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.