EILEEN
Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Anne Hathaway, and Shea Whigham
Director: William Oldroyd
ADRIANO
I enjoyed Eileen up until the moment that I didn’t. Initially, the film presents itself as a Carol-esque love story of a lost woman, which really engaged me thanks to the performances of and chemistry between Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway. The pacing was slow, but I was into it nonetheless. However, while I won’t go into specifics, in the course of a single sentence, the film does one of the biggest 180s I’ve seen in film, to the point where it made the first two acts feel like a waste of time. I’m very disappointed in the way it turned out.
QUENTIN
Despite tremendous era-specific production design and terrific performances from Anne Hathaway and especially Thomasin McKenzie (with a great Boston accent), this slow-burning, twisty, coming-of-age thriller is just a tad too slow for its own good, while also featuring a third act that almost feels as if it’s from a completely different movie. Still though, at only 96 minutes, the chemistry and psychosexual tension between Hathaway and McKenzie, not to mention a great supporting turn from Shea Whigham, are more than enough to keep viewers mostly engaged until the end.
KATIE
Eileen is a compelling and exciting film featuring engaging and multifaceted performances, but it is let down by an uneven ending. I was completely onboard until its difficult third act, which totally blindsided me, because it feels disconnected from everything that preceded it. This is
especially frustrating, considering that the film only scratches the surface on the fascinating relationship and intriguing chemistry between Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) and Rebecca (Anne Hathaway). I wanted it to be bolder and to push further into the psychosexual strangeness that it hints at.
PAIGE
Eileen starts off as a slow burn psychosexual drama with a noir aesthetic due to its cinematography and jazz-like score, but then, all of a sudden, the film takes an abrupt turn in its third act, turning into an elevated mystery thriller. While on one hand, it's a somewhat intriguing avenue to take with these characters, on the other hand, it feels completely out of left field. As a result, the film just doesn’t come together fully, even with a magnetic performance from Anne Hathaway.
This film was reviewed by Adriano and Quentin as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and the 2023 Zurich Film Festival, respectively.