FOE
Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, and Aaron Pierre
Director: Garth Davis
PAIGE
Foe is an ambitious film that is more of a domestic drama than a world-building sci-fi spectacle. Don’t expect it to feel like the Black Mirror episode “Beyond the Sea” because its purpose is very muddled. While I actually quite enjoyed this character-driven flick, I do admit it’s a slow burn that needed a stronger story and better structure to fully come together. Still, the film does manage to play to the strength of its actors. Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal manage to deliver emotionally deep performances, even when the rest of the film stumbles along the way.
ADRIANO
Foe is a movie that drained me by the time it was over. The pacing is non-existent, and while a film doesn't need to be fast paced to be good, it usually needs to have compelling writing to drive the story through slower pacing. Sadly, that's not the case with Foe. The writing is confusing, lacking the deep insight into love and A.I. that co-writers Garth Davis and Iain Reid clearly thought they were providing. Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan are not on their A-game, either. Overall, although it looks nice, this movie is disjointed and uninteresting.
This film was reviewed by Paige as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2023 New York Film Festival.