Velvet Buzzsaw review: A crazy ride with outstanding performances

Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo re-team with director Dan Gilroy for the Netflix original film Velvet Buzzsaw. You’re going to love it or hate it. 

Some audience members are going to enjoy this film, watching these strange and goofy characters interact with each other in crazy satirical ways. I however was put off by the conflicting tones that Velvet Buzzsaw presents. Coming out of this film you are either going to love it or you are going to hate it, but you will have been in for a crazy ride while you were watching it.

Velvet Buzzsaw is a horror comedy set in the high brow and certainly unforgiving world of art criticism. This is the third film written and directed by Dan Gilroy, who made a huge splash in the film world with his debut feature Nightcrawler in 2014. In that film, Gilroy was able to blend together different genres like crime, comedy, and thrillers in order to create an interesting and funny critique of the 24-hour news cycle.

In Velvet Buzzsaw he tries to do a similar thing. The mash-up between satire and horror works to a point in this film, but I feel like neither goes far enough. The horror aspects are creepy but never really downright frightening.

The paintings at the core of the film are very chilling and scary looking, but never reach that absolute terrifying sensation that I want from a horror film. They had so much potential, but unfortunately, they left me feeling unsatisfied.

The part of the film that is a satire of the art world is funny and scathing for about the first few scenes, but it never seems to want to reach beyond saying something other than “these are greedy people who like art for the wrong reasons.” There is a scene where a person mistakes actual garbage for modern art, and that scene encompasses pretty much all that the film has to say.

What really kept me invested in the film were the performances. Velvet Buzzsaw has a great cast, even if the film left me wanting more from all of them. Gilroy teams up again with Nightcrawler alums Jake Gyllenhaal and Renee Russo.

Both play oblivious and spoiled members of the art community, treating art like a transaction rather than an experience. Like his character in Nightcrawler, Gyllenhaal plays the character as an absolute weirdo who is slowly losing his mind. Gyllenhaal gets to let loose and you can tell that he is having a ton of fun while doing it.

Another good performance in the film came from the amazingly talented Toni Collette. I wish she lasted longer in the movie because she is so fun to watch. After her role in this past years horror film Hereditary, I would be willing to watch her scream at just about anything.

Overall, the film is decent but dissatisfying. It left me wanting more so I look forward to whatever Dan Gilroy decides to do next. Netflix took a chance with releasing Velvet Buzzsaw and time will tell if it pays off or not.

Did you like the film? Let us know what you thought in the comments below!