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Annette Movie Review

Annette is a 2021 musical romantic drama film directed by Leos Carax and starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. It’s a ridiculous, very off-putting movie.

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“We love each other so much“

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Henry is a stand-up comedian with a fierce sense of humor who falls in love with Ann, a world-renowned opera singer. Under the spotlight, they form a passionate and glamorous couple. With the birth of their first child – a mysterious little girl with an exceptional destiny – their lives are turned upside down. This premise may sound good on paper, but the execution is so horrendous that I ended up hating this movie for wasting my time.

None of this story made sense. Why is a stand-up comedian singing to his audience? Why is their child a literal God-damn puppet?? Is that child superhuman or is that just inside his head? Whatever your logical reasoning for this plot is, it is bound to be dumb, and I simply cannot stand these filmmakers who make their movies purposefully ambiguous, but with no message or point to them whatsoever.

I get that Leos Carax was trying to make something different, but just because something is different doesn’t mean that it’s good. The grave, moody atmosphere and tone do make an impact and some of the visuals are downright mesmerizing, but still the film is overlong, boring and one-note throughout.

I also did not care for the characters in the slightest. Why would I care about what happens to Adam Driver’s character when he is so bland. Well, the actor is fine, but the character is underwritten. And the less said about the totally wasted engagement of Cotillard, the better. And of course that child is the worst, most problematic character in the film.

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Annette does have a couple of solid songs with We Love Each Other So Much clearly being the most memorable and effective one, but the songs’ romantic lyrics did not go well with the film’s dark tone and ultimately the musical format made the movie even harder to understand and appreciate. The stagey feel to the film is also very troublesome as it reminded me not just of a mediocre film, but a truly bad play as well.

Just because a movie is different and strange doesn’t make it good. Annette is a great example of that. This is a film that does have a memorable grave atmosphere and some fine visuals, but it is boring, overlong, one-note and simply pointless in many of its overly ambiguous, even ridiculous plot points. The movie is an off-putting waste of time that resembles a play more so than a movie, and a very bad play at that.

My Rating – 2