As the credits rolled on Vox Lux starring Natalie Portman I thought to myself, what was that all about? And frankly as I write this a few days later I’m still not sure.
Portman stars as pop singer Celeste for the second and third acts of the film with a younger actress Raffey Cassidy in the role for the first.
Celeste rockets to stardom as a teenager after surviving a school shooting and singing at a memorial event. From this traumatised yet still innocent start she heads down a path of hedonism and self-destruction which is all fairly predictable.
Despite surviving a deeply traumatic event, I confess I still didn’t feel much sympathy for Celeste in adulthood and I think this might be why I feel so *meh* about this film. I mean, it’s not terrible but I just didn’t particularly engage with the characters or find the storyline very compelling. It felt like I was being preached to by an earnest film-maker but if there was a meaning that’s deeper than ‘school shootings are utterly hideous and traumatic and taking drugs and drinking too much will see you make poor decisions’ then I missed it.
Later in the film viewers are treated to a number of Celeste’s hits which were written by Australian singer songwriter Sia and it’s easy to imagine someone like Lady Gaga owning them. I was surprised just how long this concert portion of the film went for. Too long for me.
I concur with this New York Times review which says “Vox Lux sinks under the weight of its own bombastic earnestness. Unfortunately, it pulls one of the best modern actresses, Portman, down along with it.” The film is getting mixed reviews though and so in the interests of fairness, here’s one that gives it 4.5 stars if you want to read an alternate view.
Vox Lux opens 21 February. Trailer here.