Dundead 2016 Film # 2

An arthouse psychological drama that builds up nicely but then fails to really go anywhere, trapped in a never ending cycle of narcissistic depression. The fragmented story is told over two summers where self-important, toxic best friends Catherine (Elizabeth Moss) and Virginia (Katherine Waterstone) spend a long week together at a lakeside cabin, discovering that they really aren't that close after all.
The film has a kind of hypnotic quality to it, shot through a bleached out summer haze, I found myself dragged along under it's spell even though the story didn't really engage me. We don't really have enough backstory on the two leads to give a toss about their third world problems and both come across as quite unlikeable characters. Thankfully the two central performances are both strong, Moss has such an expressive face and she doesn't have to say anything for us to know how she's feeling, her performance drags the film up another level as she slowly descends into madness. The director also loves to focus his camera on the face of his actresses, especially when the other one is talking and their bored or disdainful expression belies more than words ever could.
Overall, this is an interesting film that for me never really gets out of 2nd gear, it's beautifully shot and worth seeing for the performances but I didn't really connect with it in anyway.