Suburbicon is wickedly dark comedy crime about two untypical suburban American families.
The film is set in 1959 when an all-white neighbourhood is shaken up by the arrival of an African-American family. The characters might have perfect manners, hairdos and manicured lawns but they are hiding sinister secrets.
The main storyline centres around Gardener Lodge (Matt Damon) whose home is broken into by two robbers. They end up accidentally poisoning his wife Rose. Her twin sister (both characters played by Julianne Moore) decides to live with them as the boy ‘needs a mother’.
Fences are built and tensions mount as there are protests against the African-American family. Unfortunately, this side of the story doesn’t really go anywhere much and the racism is uncomfortable to watch.
Despite this, the murder mystery part of the movie is interesting to see how it unfolds. It’s unpredictable and occasionally shocking. The main subjects are like someone lifted all the baddies out of a crime cartoon book, but forgot to add in some likeable heroes.
The script was written by Joel and Ethan Coen (think Fargo) so this film was always going to have an original bent.
Suburbicon is a crime meets satire mashup for those who like something a bit different.
Starring: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac.
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