The Beguiled

For a ninety-minute feature, The Beguiled doesn’t have much of a plot. Kirstens' Dunst’s well-played Victorian restraint and innocence (read: sexual desire ready to be awakened) and another great performance by Nicole Kidman as the head of the household are the only things that interested me here. Many scenes had half the screening room (including me) in stitches. Sofia Coppola forgot that the contemporary viewer is not one of the protagonists of her film and its time. If a remake for a contemporary audience really was necessary, it should have been made by Guillermo del Toro. With a healthy dose of ketchup. [Cannes] (05/25/2017)

An hour-long wait for a peak that definitely isn't worth an hour-long wait. Lots of stolen glances, genuine curiosity, and suppressed emotions do all the heavy lifting for plot development that struck me as belonging in a different, significantly less successful film. The answers to the questions that interested me the most remained hidden behind silent female characters. Sofia Coppola is definitely losing her uniqueness. (11/20/2017)

I didn't find the film worth a second watch. It was a truly unconventional take on the war between the North and the South. I wasn't bored, but I came pretty close. The plot definitely needed livening up. The only performance that stood out for me was Nicole Kidman’s, the others were just too bland. (02/01/2018)

The Beguiled is a gentler, more sensual and more sophisticated take on Thomas Cullin’s novel than the film made by Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood in 1971. In the original film, the ruin of men was represented by jealous and vengeful women who were incapable of suppressing their lust. Therefore, I understand Sofia Coppola’s decision to rework the same subject matter so that the result would not be a film expressing male paranoia about female hysteria and in which Southern belles are defined solely by their sexuality (or lack thereof). Coppola dispensed with the broader historical context and replaced it with a timeless narrative about the battle of the sexes and girls coming of age. Similarly as in The Virgin Suicides and Marie Antoinette, she confines her female protagonists to a golden cage, which provides them with certain privileges but also prevents them from freely expressing their individual interests. This confinement is manifested also in The Beguiled in the disregard for the outside world, corresponding to the point of view of privileged white girls who are only interested in their own needs. Despite its seeming one-dimensionality and superficiality, The Beguiled is a layered, subversive and humorous film with an ambiguous message. 85% (07/14/2017)

Sofia Coppola made a visually captivating film in which there is not much to criticize in terms of styling, costumes and sets, helped by the actors who played their parts well. I especially liked Kirsten, who I thought was beautiful in the background, although she almost seemed dumb, which doesn't feel right for her, but she played it well. However, I’m not the least bit surprised when it comes to Nicole. (10/05/2017)