Sanctuary

She's a keeper for sure

Lets be honest - a movie where two people are alone in a room for the duration of the movie is really, really difficult to pull off. Fortunately, this movie pulls it off wonderfully. Qualley is an absolute relvelation in this role. As the movie progresses, we see her character morph into several different personas. And the ending... I did not see it coming, and I loved it. This movie was a surprising treat to watch.

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I loved Margaret Qualley in this, and she really gets to shine here. This movie is absurd, crazy, and very horny. Plenty of shifting power dynamics, and I laughed at multiple moments with just how the characters would react to each other. Their dynamics are excellent. I had a lot of fun with it, and the cinematography is no slouch either. My one negative is that the ending didn't land as well for me, but still, overall very positive impressions.

_Roman Roy: The Movie_

This is an interesting analysis of gender- and power dynamics in relationships with some pretty remarkable sound design and cinematography. There are quite a few insane moments in it: most of them delightfully weird, a couple of them dumb. It stretches believability at times, but it had just enough verisimilitude to keep me on board. Abbott and Qualley deliver some of their best work to date here, you could call out some of Qualley's overacting as inauthentic or too over the top, but I think it suits the role she's playing. Very easily recommended and one of my favorites of the year so far.

7.5/10

***Sanctuary*** is something along the lines of a rom-com psychological-drama erotic-thriller. Dialogue and character driven all the way. It reminded me a lot of last year's *Good Luck to You, Leo Grande*.

Excellent character study and relationship/power dynamics. You're never really sure if they're playing the script or improvising. There's sooo many conversational back and forths and twists and turns, it's pretty much a cat and mouse game. It does get redundant and unbelievable in the second half but it still kept me invested.

It's not afraid of taking risks, the way it totally releases the tension in the first act but then manages to pick back up again on several occasions is commendable. The dialogue is mostly stagey, over-the-top (nobody talks like that) but it reflects the whole premise of this movie: it's a façade and breaking it is the whole point.

The performances are excellent but Margaret Qualley blew me away, she was given more playing ground to showcase her skills than Christopher Abbott though. Every movement and object has a crisp sound, energetic score, claustrophobic set and the colors really pop. Unpredictable from beginning to end and perfect ending!

First watch: 7/10
Second watch: 8/10

An oddly gripping battle of wits with some stellar performances from Abbott and Qualley, Sanctuary is a dialogue forward, claustrophobic thriller that is equal parts frantic as it is conniving. Qualley is completely transformative here, I've never seen her this confident and striking. Strangely romantic, exploring many questions like gender roles, power dynamics, ascension and expectation, destiny etc; Sanctuary really is a melting pot of genres and ideas, and it looks great too. Flat colours and contrasty outfits make this a feast for the eyes (especially that shot of Qualley with the light reflecting off her jaw line).
It fits Neons "New A24" role in the industry to a T.

>"Do you even know why you're doing this, or is this just a game?"
"Yes."

Sweeter and darker and funnier than I expected.

Christopher Abbot does a good job, but this is Margaret Qualley's movie.

Truly, is there anyone out there today doing the kind of shit she's doing? Uninhibited, loose, silly in the best way.

Budget for this was under $1 million... Tell me why this looks better than most $200 million movies.

Going into this I kinda assumed it it would be a bad pale imitation of Secretary (2002). 15 minutes into it I knew it was going to be a bad pale imitation of Secretary (2002). However at the end of the movie. I realized that somewhere along the way. It became a good version of Secretary. It's somehow lighter and yet more intense due to bottle status. Because of the premise I kept just assuming the characters were acting. Some of it might have been but the film is tight and well done. It's well acted. The dialog mostly works. The worst part of the movie is the ... and I'll put it delicately, the "sound design". I understand they wanted us to understand that some parts of the movie aren't being "played" but actually happening. But that sound design, while subtle, was DEFINITELY noticeable. You hear it, quiet as it is, and it kinda sucks you out of the movie as distracting. And considering the domination and submission aspects of the movie that's a bit of an impressive feat.

But in the end as I said it's a good movie. Not the best thing I've seen but far far far from the worst.

If narcissists fell in love…

Have you seen _Secretary_ (2002)? Okay, now imagine that, only in one location, and with just two actors. Yup, that's it.
After watching _The Substance_ (2024), I needed more Margaret Qualley. While she is great in this, I was hoping for a bit more.
I would call this a dark romantic drama, and it's exactly what one should expect from Neon, at this point. The plot is very simple, and it all plays out in real time; you are just spending ninety minutes with these two. Goodbye, the end.
While the movie didn't particularly wow me, I think it will find an audience. All I'm going to remember is Qualley dancing, and making weird faces.
I recommend this if you want to know what Neon's idea of a romcom is.