Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) Movie Review

Seenematograph: 6/10

Genre: Horror/Supernatural

Director: Dan Gilroy

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Zawe Ashton, Toni Collette, Tom Sturridge, Daveed Diggs, Natalia Dyer, John Malkovich, and Billy Magnussen

Country: USA

Language: English

Momus Take –

Paintings can be eerie sometimes, I admit. I have been to exhibitions and some paintings gave me some creeps (and some screamed “W-A-N-N-A-B-E!”) I am no painter myself and I do not understand paintings in most cases. There are true stories on the internet about haunted paintings; few paintings are even said to have claimed life too! But we are not here to talk about the real-life haunted paintings. We are here to talk about Velvet Buzzsaw, a movie about haunted paintings.
So, Velvet Buzzsaw is a supernatural satirical horror movie directed and written by Dan Gilroy. Dan Gilroy wrote and directed Nightcrawler (2014) He brought back Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo, again in Velvet Buzzsaw after Nightcrawler. Velvet Buzzsaw is rich with its thought-provoking elements. Just the idea of a perished artist whose paintings were inspired by his twisted mind and torturous past can give you creeps if you feel them. The cursed paintings will doom anybody who will even try to profit from them. The paintings still contained the painter’s rage, anger, and misery. The premise was simple yet sophisticated.
With all glam talk, the uptown attitude it was a rich people’s world that Gilroy created successfully. Gyllenhaal is a remarkable actor and he played the character of Morf Vandewalt, an art critic, brilliantly. His mannerisms in the movie are delightful to watch. Rene Russo was equally impressive. Her character, Rhodora Haze, is an art gallery owner.
There is a satirical angle too. The story revolved around art and the business of art. Maybe Gilroy tried to say that art should be respected, if it’s not, then the greed will poison your heart and eventually kill you. In the movie, art kills (literally) because it wasn’t valued and it was treated as a tool to mint money.
Respect art, people!