Michael Cox’s review published on Letterboxd:
"First time I fell in love, woke up next to the girl... and escaped fast and far. But Ann has changed me. What I see in her is obvious. What she sees in me? Hmmm. It's a little more puzzling." - Henry McHenry
See where it ranks among my top films of 2021!
My Favorite Leading Male Performances of All-Time
Annette remains to be unlike anything I've ever seen, but dissecting it the second time around seemed to tone down the bizarreness of it all. Don't get me wrong, it's still a really bizarre film, but I began to notice some things set in earlier than expected since I knew what was going to happen. Themes became more apparent and the story became more tragic. Like a Greek Tragedy, it's filled with royalty, jealous spouses, the beckoning call of an ever-changing chorus and its writers, Sparks, acting as muses who subtly dictate where the story's going in the least expected of circumstances. Then I notice the deep longing for love and the complexities that come with someone who struggles with it.
The back-and-forth within themselves, the never satisfied loneliness, the self-loathing, the resentfulness, and the desperate cling to what love you think have left, from the abyss.
It's certainly one of the most interesting films of the year with beautiful cinematography and color correction, an epically orchestral score and a catalogue of mostly bangers when it comes to the musical numbers.
Adam Driver (Henry McHenry) was a tour de force, arguably giving his best performance yet and Simon Helberg (The Accompianist) still gave my favorite supporting performance this year. Marion Cotillard (Ann Desfranoux) gave a better performance than I gave her credit for the first time as her solo helped shine a new light on it.
I think this will be one I can't help but go back to over and over again.
4.25/5
