Suburbicon

Suburbicon is an American comedic crime-drama from the Coen brothers and is directed by George Clooney. The film screened at the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals before its theatrical release.

The film is set in the 50s in a seemingly peaceful suburban neighbourhood. It starts with the Lodge family and the murder of Mrs Lodge (Julianne Moore). As the story unravels Mr Lodge (Matt Damon) attempts to pull his life back together with the help of Mrs Lodge’s twin sister Margaret (also Julianne Moore) while son Nicky, starts to notice things may not be all that they seem. Amongst all of this an African American family has moved into the town much to the dislike of the white occupants. While the town is distracted by running the unwanted family out of town they are unaware of the commotion taking place next door.

To describe Suburbicon in one word would be – boring. While the film had a successful cast and crew, they missed the mark on this one. The dialogue was bland, the score was annoying at times and there was no thrill to the story. You can tell exactly what is going to happen before it does. They nailed the visuals and there were trickles of comedy throughout but immensely failed to satisfy.

★★

Reviewed by Riley Hooper