From US indie filmmaker Alex Ross Perry (The Color Wheel) comes this uncompromising, mordantly funny tragicomedy about Philip, an obnoxiously solipsistic young writer played with ironic relish by Jason Schwartzmann.
Elisabeth Moss (TV’s Mad Men, Top of the Lake) plays his long-suffering girlfriend Alex, a photographer whose blossoming career puts her at odds with Philip – who despite the publication of his second novel is riddled with insecurities and incapable of seeing beyond himself to accommodate her needs.
Relying on his mentor, novelist Ike Zimmerman, (Jonathan Pryce) he retreats upstate to escape the worrying intensity of the city; and Perry follows his progress and Alex’s as they navigate increasingly separate lives.
Everything about this complex and provocative film forces you to ‘listen up’ – from the public radio-esque narration to the lovely Super 8-esque cinematography – but it feels exceptional chiefly for its refusal to obscure unappealing behaviour, but rather examine it in all its horrific glory. The performances are superb, with Schwartzmann almost ecstatically unlikeable as prickly, proudly egocentric Philip (both he and Ike are clear ciphers for Philip Roth); though it’s perhaps Moss who shines as Alex, with Perry’s camera lingering on her intelligent, expressive face as complicated emotions pass through her.
As an examination of creative egotism, emotional exploitation and unhealthy relationships it’s not exactly an easy watch; but it’s made vastly enjoyable via bracing intelligence, acerbic wit and a dawning humanity that finally offers the audience, if not Philip, some perspective.
