Demolition
2016 · Directed by Jean-Marc Vallée
Original language: English
- comedy
- drama
The story
An emotionally desperate investment banker finds hope through a woman he meets.
What it’s like
Cool, washed-out daylight and handheld-leaning intimacy give this one an unsentimental, slightly raw surface, with Jean-Marc Vallée's restless editing cutting between grief, mundane city streets and sudden bursts of hilarity. Much of it plays in bright, sterile interiors and sun-flooded Manhattan apartments, where the imagery is unfussy and the score sits lightly beneath the scenes, letting a strange, wistful melancholy coexist with deadpan humour. The vibe is wry, bruised and oddly buoyant, suited to a restless evening or a lazy weekend when you want something sharp that doesn't lean on tears. The pacing is loose and episodic, moving through a grieving widower's breakdowns and small rebellions toward an unlikely, tentative openness. Its people are damaged and funny in equal measure: a man slowly unlearning his polished composure, drawn into an unexpected friendship with a woman and her son. Intensity is moderate: a fatal car crash is shown and there is some profanity, drug use and sexual content, but little gore. It is for viewers who like dark comedy with real feeling underneath, and for anyone who enjoys character studies of people coming undone.
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