47/19

It took 7 years to get funded

Scenario

The Maynards and their children live a nearly perfect life as a billionaire family. Amon is a passionate hunter but doesn’t shoot animals as the family’s wealth allows them to live completely free of consequences.

Watched this at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival

Ayn Rand: The Point Is, Who’s Gonna Stop Me? Filmmakers Daniel Hoesl and Juliane Niemann clearly have an interesting satirical take on the rich class and while there are some good ideas, it comes across as underdeveloped and not as strong as the film thinks it is.

A lot of the acting is solid, only some of the children’s performances are a little weak

The production designs, camera work and color representation are great throughout and really beautiful as they help capture the atmosphere and essence of the characters. The direction by Hoesl and Niemann, while a little messy, has a clear vision of what style and atmosphere they are going for.

Like there were some good ideas that didn’t really reach the desired potential

The narrative is a good concept, but unfortunately it doesn’t feel as strong as it thinks it is because the narrative seems underdeveloped on some issues and the characters don’t seem so engaging or interesting that you can form an emotional connection with them. There are certain moments that are shocking, edgy and quite bizarre and I understand the backgrounds and vision of the filmmakers.

But it could have been better

But it doesn’t feel entirely earned and the style is far too similar to something by Ruben Östlund or Michael Haneke. Overall it’s not bad as there are some moments that I appreciate.