I was pretty mid on Baker's previous films so I was skeptical but curious when all the gushing reviews for this started pouring in. I did enjoy this a good deal but I've also gotta say I think it's a bit overhyped.

Baker knows how to tell a story and study characters. No question there. My biggest gripe with his movies, incuding this one, is usually the overall message. I'm always left wondering what the point of it all was. Baker's movies conjur up all kinds of emotions, and they do it very well. He's great at shining a spotlight into a shadow. The issue is that most of us already know what's hiding in there, and the films offer little in the way of things to be learned from observing them.

I don't want to take away from the direction, editing, and stellar lead performance here, all of these were great. I simply wanted a bit more substance beyond "spoiled rich kids are brats and strippers are sad." Utlimately, though, that's all I wound up walking out with.

There'a a tonal shift that comes when the Russians show up and Ivan runs off. Everything leading up to this shift felt like an evolution of Baker's style and I was ready to the hordes in their praise. Everything that comes post-shift, however, feels like it reverts back to his previous efforts. Lots of screaming. Lots of drama. Blasts of weird comedy. Lots of stress. Almost Uncut Gems level anxiety for the whole second half of the movie.

The snowball builds for what feels like forever then levels off for the final moments. I liked the ending a lot. I liked the ending so much I've been wanting badly to bump this up to 4 stars but I think for now I'm gonna trust my gut and leave it at 3.5. Maybe a rewatch will change that.

We get so much emotional depth, exposure, and development in the final few moments of the film that it made me wish it all could have come on a bit sooner. By the time all the screaming was finally over I was ready to be done with these characters, then it made me care about them again before sending me off. It left me more conflicted than gut-punched. I wanted a follow up but knew it wasn't coming, and it brought it all back around to that "what was the point?" thing I was talking about earlier.

This felt close to being what I wanted it to be, but in the end that extended tonal shift wound up bringing it down for me. It found redemption before crossing the finish line, but if it had maintained the vibe of the early chapters for its entirety I feel like it could have been as great as I was hoping it was going to be. That's not to say I needed a happy ending, I just wish it had delivered things without the wacky goose chase, and offerend a bit more in of a final takeaway.

As everything stands though, this feels like an obviously huge step in the right direction for Baker. I'm curious what his next effort will look like.