43/27
The Maynards and their children live a near-perfect billionaire family life. Amon is an avid hunter, but he doesn’t shoot animals, as the family’s wealth allows them to live totally free from consequences. It took 7 years to finance it. Ayn Rand: The Question Is, Who’s Gonna Stop Me?. I saw it at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Director Daniel Hoesl and Juliane Niemann clearly have an interesting satirical take on the wealthy class, and while there are some good ideas, it feels underdeveloped and not as strong as the film thinks it is. Overall, the production design, camerawork, and color presentation are stunning and really beautiful as they help capture the mood and essence of the characters. Hoesl and Niemann’s direction, while a little messy, has a clear vision of the style and mood they are going for. Many of the performances are solid, with a few childish performances feeling a little weak. The narrative is a good concept, but unfortunately, it feels as strong as it thinks it is because the narrative feels underdeveloped with some of the themes and the characters don’t feel that engaging nor interesting to connect with emotionally. Like there were some good ideas that didn’t really reach the potential they wanted. There are some moments that are shocking, nervous and quite bizarre and I understand where the directors are coming from and their vision. But it doesn’t feel fully earned and the style feels too similar to something from Ruben Ostlund or Michael Haneke. Overall, it’s not bad because there are some moments that I appreciate. But it could have been stronger.