Serenity stars Baker Dill (Matthew McConaughey). He is a fisherman that lives a quiet, peaceful life on Plymouth Island. However, things get complicated when his ex-wife Karen (Anne Hathaway) comes into the picture. She asks Dill for his help because of her and their son are in danger of her new husband Frank (Jason Clarke), who is an overall awful person. He’s a violent abusive man, who takes his aggression out on his wife, causing their son to hide away in fear. Karen comes to Dill for help, and for him to take care of business. From there, Dill’s past comes to haunt him, as he struggles to determine the right and wrong of the situation, all while things may not be what they seem.
At its core, Serenity has an interesting premise. Plots that involve mystery and moral dilemmas can result in the most captivating and thought-provoking films out there. Unfortunately, Serenity is neither of those things. It is an absurd, nonsensical movie that’s nowhere near as smart as it thinks it is.
The biggest shame about Serenity is how inconsistent its own quality is. In almost every aspect of the film, there are good and bad moments spliced together, making the presentation jarring. The directing and cinematography have the most good moments. There are quite a few instances of beautiful scenery, with the ocean striking with a soothing blue. The shot composition is basic, but it does a nice job moving the story forward. Where the presentation of the picture falters is at certain camera techniques that take place. There’s this jumpy, panning shot that the film does a few times in the movie. It’s out of place and looks awful. Also, the editing is all over the place. A lot of scenes cut together very awkwardly, making the picture feel cumbersome, and certain shots hard to look at. The visual presentation is nowhere near perfect, but at least it has some good moments.
Sadly, the inconsistencies are more imbalanced with the other aspects of the film. By that, I mean things start to turn worse when not looking at the directing and production. For example, the performances are not good. Everyone is either underselling or overdoing it with no in-between. Matthew McConaughey looks like he is sleepwalking throughout the entire film, Anne Hathaway gets obnoxious at points, and Jason Clarke is a cartoon. The other side characters are ridiculous, and no one acts like real people. There are moments where they try and the emotions come out, but for the most part, all the acting is subpar at best and painful at worst.
Where this movie completely falls apart is in its story. The plot is convoluted, and since there is so much happening at once, the story gets very confusing very quickly. It takes forever for the story to get momentum, but once it does, logic goes out of the window. The film ranges from dull and boring to unintentionally hilarious on a whim, and it never seems to ground itself. Plus, there are instances where the film takes very strange story shifts. They are awful. This movie pulls some ridiculous shenanigans, including one of the dumbest, most complicated plot twists I’ve ever seen. It’s so bad, it borders on laughable.
What makes matters worse is its writing. The dialogue is horrendous. There are certain lines spoken by the characters that baffle me. This movie contains some of the most ridiculous dialogue I’ve ever seen. Every single line is awkward and stupid, and the exchanges between characters are completely idiotic. This movie is trying way too hard to be clever in every facet, but it all comes off as a huge mess.
I can admire Serenity for trying to do something original. However, in my opinion, this movie fails on almost every aspect. With poor acting, awkward directing, and one of the most nonsensical scripts and stories I’ve ever experienced, this movie turns out quite rotten. The best phrase I can use to describe Serenity is “a pretentious mess.” If you want to see a film that goes flat out insane by the end, then I guess you’ll find something here. For everyone else, I don’t recommend this one.
Final score: 2/10 (Terrible)
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