Vox Lux Review

Vox Lux is a wry new satire from Brady Corbet, a director I’m pretty unfamiliar with. Starring Natalie Portman as a washed up but ever-popular singer, the film is a tongue-in-cheek depiction of the nature of fame in the twenty-first century.

                Without giving any spoilers, I think its important to note that the opening scene is hard to watch. While the trailer doesn’t point to this, Vox Lux is a violent film which doesn’t hide its attitude to American gun laws and the catastrophic events that the out-dated second amendment has on its citizens. Although I wasn’t expecting it, it was clear from the outset that this was a film about much more than the glittery lives of musicians.

                The satirical message of this film is on point, highlighting the issues we face with the nature of popular culture. Willem Defoe’s frank, but cutting, narration means that you are guided through the film in a way that points towards what Corbet wants you to consider, without being patronising. Satire is often something that can become inaccessible and pretentious, but in Vox Lux it is clear exactly what is being ridiculed and why.

                What drew me to the film initially was Portman, one of my favourite actresses EVER, and she did not disappoint. With a lot less screen time than I was expecting, she perfectly portrayed the insanity it requires to sacrifice your identity up to fame. I felt for her and hated her at different times, and ultimately understood that Corbet was trying to portray the ridiculousness of it all. Raffey Cassidy was also great as a young Natalie Portman, and then Portman’s daughter. After having also seen her in Killing of A Sacred Deer it is clear Cassidy has a talent for the eerily uncomfortable.

I was, however, troubled by the blatant links made between Portman’s character Celeste and Stefani Germanotta, better known as Lady Gaga. From the public nature of Celeste’s tumultuous love life and crippling back-pain (the reason that Gaga cancelled several dates on her last tour), to her calling her fans ‘little angels’, a resonant point towards Gaga’s ‘little monsters’, I couldn’t help but feel the film had picked the wrong pop star. Germanotta’s choice to dress up the way she did in the former half of her career was with the same intention that Vox Lux was written- to satirise our obsession with fame and image. I may be reading it completely wrong, but if the references to her were then a criticism, then I feel this is unjustified. Gaga is on the same side as Corbet on this debate, so if she was the subject of this Satire then I’m afraid, in my opinion, he’s completely missed the mark.  

                Nonetheless, a disagreement I may have with the angle of the film doesn’t deny its quality. I felt that Vox Lux tapped into an important subject and did it extremely well, exposing the malady that lies at the heart of what we value in modern day success. Grounded in powerful performances and a script that cuts like a knife, Vox Lux is a must see for all you cynics out there.  

Image Credit Curzon Artificial Eye https://www.curzonartificialeye.com/vox-lux/