Vox Lux

Name: Vox Lux
Genre: Drama, Music, Musical
Released: December 7, 2018
Duration: 114 min
Rating: 67
Cast: Candace Smith, Christopher Abbott, Daniel London, Erik King, Fred Hechinger

2018

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 91 Ratings

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6.0	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 91 Ratings

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Vox Lux

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Movie Details & Credits

Neon | Release Date: December 7, 2018 | Not Rated

Starring: Candace Smith, Christopher Abbott, Daniel London, Erik King, Fred Hechinger, Jennifer Ehle, Jude Law, Logan Riley Bruner, Maria Dizzia, Matt Servitto, Meg Gibson, Micheál Richardson, Natalie Portman, Natasha Romanova, Raffey Cassidy, Stacy Martin, Willem Dafoe

Summary: Vox Lux, A 20th Century Portrait, begins in 1999 when teenage Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) survives a violent tragedy. After singing at a memorial service, Celeste transforms into a burgeoning pop star with the help of her songwriter sister (Stacy Martin) and talent manager (Jude Law). Celeste’s meteoric rise to fame dovetails with a personalVox Lux, A 20th Century Portrait, begins in 1999 when teenage Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) survives a violent tragedy. After singing at a memorial service, Celeste transforms into a burgeoning pop star with the help of her songwriter sister (Stacy Martin) and talent manager (Jude Law). Celeste’s meteoric rise to fame dovetails with a personal and national loss of innocence, consequently elevating the young powerhouse to a new kind of celebrity: American icon, secular deity, global superstar. By 2017, adult Celeste (Natalie Portman) is mounting a comeback after a scandalous incident almost derailed her career. Touring in support of her sixth album, a compendium of sci-fi anthems entitled, “Vox Lux,” the indomitable, foul-mouthed pop savior must overcome her personal and familial struggles to navigate motherhood, madness and monolithic fame. [Neon]… Expand

Director: Brady Corbet

Genre(s): Drama, Music, Musical

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 114 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Mick LaSalle

Dec 7, 2018

There are great movies every year, but every so often there’s a movie that’s not only great but new, that advances the form a little, that pushes movies to a different place. Such movies get remembered as the thing that happened in cinema that year. The thing that happened in 2018 is Vox Lux. Read full review

The Film Stage Rory O'Connor

Sep 15, 2018

Corbet’s second feature owes a debt or two to filmmakers reveling in provocation, but it is no doubt the work of a daring original. Read full review

Guy Lodge

Sep 4, 2018

Powered in its second half by a riveting performance of fiercely mannered bravado by Natalie Portman, as a kamikaze electropop diva running her Faustian fame off and under the rails, Vox Lux paints a sharp, shellacked portrait of a ghost in the celebrity machine. Read full review

Kim Hughes

Dec 18, 2018

In the end, all the sorrow and horror and anger and angst just seem pointless despite Corbet’s stated intention to juxtapose the meaningless against the tragic. Read full review

The Guardian Peter Bradshaw

May 1, 2019

What a commanding performance from Cassidy. And Scott Walker’s orchestral score offers a sinister caress. Read full review

Katie Rife

Dec 5, 2018

It’s a more cynical, and arguably more realistic, depiction of the unique malignancies of fame than this year’s other Oscar-baiting pop musical, "A Star Is Born." But ultimately, it’s no more insightful. Read full review

Jake Cole

Sep 16, 2018

Vox Lux sets up its main character as a beneficiary of tragedy, opening up a compellingly macabre narrative about how school shootings are becoming so commonplace that they can effectively serve as launchpads for stardom. But that idea goes nowhere, as Vox Lux proceeds to play Celeste's experience in the music industry mostly straight. Read full review

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User Reviews

nokyam1

Dec 7, 2018

The songs written by Sia are excellent in themselves and never drift into simple pastiche. Scott Walker once again provides a striking, pounding orchestral score. With Vox Lux, Corbet has delivered a towering film, a unique uncompromising vision that reveals the darkness on the edge of townThe songs written by Sia are excellent in themselves and never drift into simple pastiche. Scott Walker once again provides a striking, pounding orchestral score. With Vox Lux, Corbet has delivered a towering film, a unique uncompromising vision that reveals the darkness on the edge of town that lurks in the depths of the spotlight. It’s funny, thrilling, deadly serious and achieves genuine depth.… Expand

2 of 9 users found this helpful27

Lajaleaa

Feb 10, 2019

"The business model relays on the costumer's unshakable stupidity."
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( 95/100 ) . Vox Lux es la segunda obra de Brady Corbet, un chico que creció actuando en la escena dramática de Hollywood de los 2010's y aparece en películas de culto como Mysterious Skin (2004), Funny Games (2007),"The business model relays on the costumer's unshakable stupidity."
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( 95/100 )
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Vox Lux es la segunda obra de Brady Corbet, un chico que creció actuando en la escena dramática de Hollywood de los 2010's y aparece en películas de culto como Mysterious Skin (2004), Funny Games (2007), Melancholia (2011), entre otros. Cuando lo vi en Mysterious Skin lo consideré como una personalidad interesante de seguir. Sin embargo, después de algo de tiempo le gané indiferencia. A pesar de eso se ha aparecido intermitentemente en varías películas que buscan construir el cine de cultura en Estados Unidos y después de ver Vox Luz siento que, para él, estar al perímetro de esas experiencias le ha permitido formar una opinión amplia y crítica del espectáculo americano.
Vox Lux, protagonizada por Natalie Portman y Raffey Cassidy, relata la historia de supervivencia de una chica en una jungla capitalista y consumista. Después de un evento nacionalmente trágico, la jungla social catapulta incidentalmente la carrera de esa chica quien crece para entender y defender la complejidad de su propia postura de privilegios y ventajas. Esa postura fácilmente la coloca como una ignorante en un mundo que tiene tantos puntos de fuga, sin embargo ella luchará por su propio centro.
La magia máxima en la película es la facilidad con la que introduce los discursos. Narrada por Williem Dafoe y orada por Portman, Corbet presenta el guión más accesible y, aún así, complejo del año. Cada linea y cada escena está cargada con discursos emocionalmente pesados, filosóficamente complejos y brutalmente razonables. Ellos presentan la lógica detrás del valor (para mi, un antivalor) de la competencia. La competencia social, espiritual, económica, cultural y familiar. Todo nace de la observación que Corbet ha tenido de su propia cultura, una cultura con una total influencia política y que se alimenta del ámbito espectacular. Corbet toma esa política y la cultura del entretenimiento y descubre una reacción social increíblemente indignate ante los ojos de millones, pero justa ante los ojos de pocos miles. La palabra clave es Pop. La cultura pop nació en Estados a través de la música popular. Fue la gente de color, el jazz y la fusión de varios géneros que creció la apreciación por el arte de consumo masivo a nivel nacional. Posteriormente eso se convirtió en una cultura masiva la cual, bajo los permisos, errores y presencia de la política, se convertiría en un estilo de vida. Un estilo de vida que se define en cantidades materiales y cualidades superficiales.
La crítica, entonces, se hace hacia la política, quien abre puertas para permitir escenarios horridos, macabros, sin valor espiritual y de alta demanda de consumo. El consumo, entonces, nos lleva a la plataforma del entretenimiento, quien alimenta inmesurablemente esa necesidad de mantener las torres de fama y los puentes sociales que llevan a los centros de atención, todo decorado por una joyería de egoísmo, vanidad e ignorancia emocional: "El éxito".
El ingenio detrás del proyecto no solo es excelente: enamora; y Portman, Cassidy, Dafoe y Jude Law brillan en la forma en la que presentan cada capa narrativa, pues actúan con excelencia. Por parte de la visualización, no solo hay una simbología importante en varias escenas, sino que Corbet crea una sátira visual que se siente deficiente y exagerada (especialmente en el acto final) que busca revelar una piel no tan "especial" del entretenimiento. Como proponiendo la duda de "¿Realmente ésto es la gran cosa?". Y la música que Sia produce y escribe para la película lo corrobora. Ya hablaré de ello en mi reseña del soundtrack, pero a grandes rasgos, la música, que también es una ironía, expone el lado más plástico e inútil del espectáculo y qué, aún así, es mundialmente aclamado.
Con la intención de concluir este escrito, solo mencionaré que la película termina con una sonrisa. A pesar de que se expone que nuestro mundo está inundado de ignorancia social, también hay orgullo, preocupación y amor inevitable que alimenta esa ironía existencial. Y también, a pesar de que todo esté perdido, realmente no lo está, porque son pocos los que pueden vivir al perímetro de esa perdición, son pocos los que la observan y están dispuestos a exponerla y desnudarla. Corbet es uno de ellos, emancipado de la expectación y promovedor del pensamiento crítico. Inspira.… Expand

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

Panchogul

Apr 13, 2019

Natalie Portman es quien lleva las riendas de la película, su desempeño es impecable, sin embargo, la trama y los factores de la misma no llegan a ser del todo interesantes, es buena, pero le faltó fuerza.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

bataguila

May 6, 2019

La historia es mala, es un dia en la vida de Britney Gaga, siendo pedantes, y termina del orto. Lo unico bueno es la 1ra escena

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Brent_Marchant

Dec 16, 2018

An offering that tries ever so hard to get traction (in a number of ways) but never succeeds in generating any kind of meaningful direction or momentum. Much of the cryptic dialogue and vastly overwritten voice-over narration makes little sense and comes across more like pointless stream ofAn offering that tries ever so hard to get traction (in a number of ways) but never succeeds in generating any kind of meaningful direction or momentum. Much of the cryptic dialogue and vastly overwritten voice-over narration makes little sense and comes across more like pointless stream of consciousness babble. What's more, for a film about a pop star, there's precious little music in it (what's that all about?). Natalie Portman makes a valiant effort to try and save this patient, but, by the time she finally comes on screen in the second act, the code has already long been called. This is one of those wrong-headed releases that can't help but make me wonder, what was everybody thinking about when they decided to make this one?… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

MarkHReviews

Dec 17, 2018

The opening scenes of “Vox Lux” are nothing short of magnificent. Willem Dafoe’s narration grounds the film and helps to create an anticipatory gravitas. There are unforgettably horrific visuals, exacerbated by jarring cutaways and a jiggling camera. All of this contributes to a sense ofThe opening scenes of “Vox Lux” are nothing short of magnificent. Willem Dafoe’s narration grounds the film and helps to create an anticipatory gravitas. There are unforgettably horrific visuals, exacerbated by jarring cutaways and a jiggling camera. All of this contributes to a sense of disorientation while also creating deep excitement about what’s to come. Then the credits begin to roll, as if the film has concluded. The viewer is literally squirming with anticipation. Unfortunately, the balance of the film is a series of missed opportunities and, ultimately, an over-long denouement.

Thirteen-year-old Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) is a survivor of a grisly school shooting on Staten Island. Unable to put her adolescent thoughts and feelings into words, she co-opts a song written by her sister for her part in the memorial service. The video goes viral, and mononymous Celeste is born, instantly whisked away to Manhattan for demos, production meetings and, eventually, a trip to Stockholm to cut her first record with a legendary producer. One intuits that it’s all moving much too fast. Celeste’s rapid rise to celebrity status and her too-soon loss of innocence parallel many of the events, particularly the burgeoning cynicism, of the culture around her. September 11 is thrown in at the end of this sequence, just in case we miss the point.

The final segment features a 31-year-old Celeste (Natalie Portman), filled with cynicism and self-loathing, fueled by booze and drugs. As some have observed, this is “A Star is Born” for the bubblegum set. The film concludes with Celeste performing in her hometown, hoping for a comeback from a series of personal and professional disasters in 2017. To her credit, Portman does her own singing in this closing sequence, although her power-pop repertoire hardly calls for the vocal range of Freddie Mercury.

Where the film fails is as metaphor, analogy or any sort of clear-eyed social commentary. Claiming to offer “A Twenty-First Century Portrait,” director Brady Corbet (“The Childhood of a Leader”) creates a picture frame that contains eye-catching colors but no real depth, texture or context. Is Celeste’s loss of innocence inevitable? Is success always a result of whim, chance or random circumstance? Is the will to succeed always based in insecurity, if not self-loathing? Does success always come at another’s expense? Perhaps “Vox Lux” is mirroring contemporary culture simply by failing to take a clear stance on anything. Alternatively, this film’s ultimate contribution may be its confirmation that truth and self-awareness are hard-earned. Unfortunately, “Vox Lux” turns out to be cotton candy - an airy confection with only the appearance of substance.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

minoku

Dec 9, 2018

Boring and no impressive at all. Overrated, even the soundtrack isn't good.

4 of 9 users found this helpful45

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