Nathan Countryman’s review published on Letterboxd:
Man, that opening number? That's going to plague musical theater performances for years to come in the pre-show walk-ups.
The first 10 minutes are fantastic, great staging, harmonies and music.
This quickly becomes a very, very dark and terrifying musical about a subject that's in the news a lot these days.
This is a hell of a performance by Adam Driver. Like, my God, he's due for at least another Oscar nomination for this. This is more haunting than anything in Marriage Story.
I think the songs with so many discordant harmonies are going to be a sound for the ears of any Sondheim fan to enjoy, without that man's penchant for runs of triplets. I'm not familiar with The Sparks Brothers work before this, aside from a doc from Edgar Wright I want to catch.
There are some terrific and unique songs in this movie, though.
Look, you're either going to be on board for some of the bizarre in this musical or you're not. I'm going to give a content warning for domestic abuse, though, because this film really does go to those dark places, and if that's a no flag for you, probably best to not subject yourself to this musical.
I'd put it in the veins of works like The Lure and Hedwig and the Angry Inch in it's visuals and lyrics. If you're not on the wavelengths of either of those musicals, this thing is probably going to turn you off quickly as well.
It's definitely not for everyone, but I really enjoyed this musical throughout, even if it deviates from traditional musical structure. I've never watched a Leos Carax film before this, and this is a helluva interesting first film to jump on that track.
I think if Marion Cotillard's role was just a little more expanded in the first act, it would have been a four star film here for me.
