I don't think this is that much of a hot take. I've just watched a whole lot of better films being that I regularly watch a lot of foreign films, and when you do that, you sorta get used to a lot more character building and more daring movies. My taste in films are much more geared to substance over flash. I mean PTA pulls out every trick in the book, but you have to admit: the guy spent five minutes before he has Sean Penn and Teyana Taylor meet. It is a little contrived on the plot. I am not sure how Sean Penn survived a gun shot to the face and barreling his car off of a cliff. But PTA didn't care about the Hows of the film, only if it served his purpose. Like I said, I've seen too many better films to be wowed by this one. I mean I saw: No other choice, which was more satisfying to me. It had an element of Hitchcock in it, although Chan-wook is a little too hollywood for my tastes. If you want to watch daring films with heavy-handed messages, try a Jessica Hausner film. Watch Club Zero and then you will find out how unflinching someone can be when they literally don't care what the audience thinks. That film is sinister.
