Electra (2025)- Maria Bakalova, Abigail Cowen, Jack Farthing
The idea that someone is not who they initially seem to be seems to power a range of films. Aside from the usual “killer reveal” in horror movies, where we are also treated typically to a monolog of why this deception has happened, films feature all sorts of lies and manipulation. It is the central twist that powers the Matlock reboot right now on CBS. It is basically the mantra of Tom Ripley in any incarnation. It also runs through Saltburn, with an interesting twist at the end almost validating the lies. Electra is of this ilk, and twists everything around just like any perfect manipulation. It’s like the great answer to “who is Keyser Soze?” Once the wool is over your eyes, the truth will be revealed.
Sadly, this new film doesn’t have an existing audio description track, and it is headed for a day and date debut for theatrical and video-on-demand on May 2nd. i don’t forsee it getting a track. Electra feels like a micro budget film that relies on the charm of its actors, of which it only has four. The big draw is Academy Award Nominee Maria Bakalova, who isn’t the lead, but is by far the most interesting character. she attacks every scene she has, stealing the movie along with it. The other two decent performers were Abigail Cowen and Jack Farthing. Then, we have the fourth actor.
it is hard to say if the directing was exceptional as there are several scenes with no audio description just scored by music. The music supervisor here found some gorgeous classical music tracks to highlight the elevated nature of the characters and the posh Italian setting. Aside from the unknown, what is holding this film back the most is a man named Daryl Wein. I’m certain this man is not a good actor.
Wein is so miscast, and out of place, he actually feels like some hire for equivalence purposes. Or, he’s the director’s best friend. Nepotism had to have worked in his favor. I refuse to believe he got this gig on merit alone. I can’t see him actually being chosen from a set of actors submitting for the role. I never believed a single line reading he had. he never felt in the pocket with the rest of the actors, but more like if Dan Levy appeared in Saving Private Ryan, but with the exact same line delivery as he does on Schitt’s creek. no matter how much you might like Levy, that would be jarring. Checking out his IMDb profile, acting isn’t his main hat, he frequently appears as a director, writer, or producer. His last acting credit was the TV series Life in Pieces, which has been off the air for several years. He’s distractingly bad. Electra is a little lucky that I can’t really grade the film because there is too much I’m missing between scenes where you get these long moments scored by music. literally anything could be happening visually, and without audio description, i wouldn’t know.
I’d hate to say that one bad performance would cause me to go full rotten, and because of the gaps in the film, I really don’t have a strong feeling to recommend or not recommend this title. What I would use as a barometer is the desire to support independent film, if you are sighted and don’t require accessibility.
No Grade Due To Lack Of Audio Description
