Jake Gyllenhaal Is a Total Snob in This Odd Netflix Horror Comedy

The Big Picture

• Jake Gyllenhaal reunited with
  Nightcrawler
  director Dan Gilroy for Netflix’s satirical horror comedy,
  Velvet Buzzsaw
  .
• Gyllenhaal is a snobby art critic in
  Velvet Buzzsaw
  , which acts as a wild satire of the world of art criticism and exhibition.
• Velvet Buzzsaw
  is further proof that Gyllenhaal is at his best in idiosyncratic roles that allow him to tackle multiple genres at once.

Few directorial debuts within the 21st century landed with as significant of an impact as Dan Gilroy’s terrifying thriller Nightcrawler, a creative rejuvenation of the neo-noir genre that instantly skyrocketed its writer/director’s status in the industry. In addition to proving Gilroy’s merits as a storyteller, Nightcrawler featured a tour-de-force performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, who shed his typically charismatic persona in order to play an offbeat anti-hero. Unfortunately, Nightcrawler did not not kick off an immediate collaboration between the two; Gilroy tried helming the disappointing legal thriller Roman J. Israel, Esq., and Gyllenhaal tried his hand at a series of underwhelming commercial prospects. However, Gyllenhaal and Gilroy reunited for the bizarrely satirical Netflix horror comedy Velvet Buzzsaw.

What Is ‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ About?

Set within modern day Miami, Velvet Buzzsaw is a wild satire of the world of art criticism and exhibition, and analyzes the difficult plight that modern creators face when attempting to showcase their work. Gyllenhaal stars in another offbeat role as Morf Vandewalt, a self-obsessed art critic who pursues a showcase known as the “Haze Gallery,” owned by the illustrious curator Rhodora Haze (Rene Russo). Morf begins a romantic relationship with Rhodora’s employee, Josephina (Zawe Ashton), who begins taking partially destroyed paintings and presenting them to the gallery. Although the paintings are met with the approval of the gallery’s frequent attendees, including the curator Gretchen (Toni Collette), the artists Piers (John Malkovich) and Damrish (Daveed Diggs), it soon becomes clear that there is a supernatural force at play. There’s a price for taking art without compensating the artists, and Morf’s world begins to turn upside down when it’s discovered that the gallery is benefitting from the uncompleted works.

While it eventually takes a more supernatural slant, Velvet Buzzsaw does a great job at realizing the world of modern art. Gilroy presents a grim reality in which pundits like Rhodora and Morf are willing to criticize and judge the work that others have poured so much effort into, and don’t realize the power that they have to destroy artists’ livelihoods with a negative review. Perhaps this is Gilroy’s way of attacking his own critics, but Velvet Buzzsaw doesn’t suggest that criticism itself is a bad thing; rather, it attacks the dispassionate venom that Morf seems to have for things that he doesn’t think are worthy of exhibition. Ironically, the new paintings that Josephina presents become a hit because the majority of their observers simply don’t understand them; although they’re perceived to be “avant garde,” the paintings actually have a more sinister quality.

While the presentation of a modern day art gallery is somewhat fancified, Velvet Buzzsaw brilliantly bridges the gap between satire and horror. Once the gallery worker Bryson (Billy Magnussen) disappears upon transporting a group of rare paintings to a storage facility, the film begins amping up the tension as the stolen works of art begin to “defend themselves.” It’s a unique take on the slasher genre, as it’s not just one work of art that is picking off the curators and critics; rather, the entire exhibit itself seems to be rebelling against the outsiders that attempt to distort and profit from their value.

‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ Satirizes the Commercialization of Art

Nightcrawler is a standout debut for Gilroy because beneath its neo-noir crime elements, the film boasts a searing indictment of how the media perpetuates violence by sensationalizing lurid material. Velvet Buzzsaw incorporates a similar element of satire that indicts wealthy people from turning artwork into a commodity, even if they wouldn’t be willing to pay the artists the same respect. Despite this grim reflection of reality, Velvet Buzzsaw has such a heightened reality that it’s often hilarious. While comparisons can be made to real critics, artists, and curators, Gilroy ensures that each character is a wildly over-the-top caricature of what these roles actually are.

The superficial tone that Gilroy establishes allows the film to get even wilder in its third act. The use of the works of art brought to life as the main source of death and destruction allows Velvet Buzzsaw to get even weirder as it goes along. Although some viewers may have been put off by how utterly unlikable a majority of the main protagonists are, Gilroy gives them their comeuppance by dispatching with his pretentious cast of characters in an increasingly brutal fashion. Josephina’s demise from a malevolent source of graffiti wax is only one of the increasingly hilarious death sequences that Gilroy incorporates.

Although the film is certainly intended to start a discussion, Velvet Buzzsaw doesn’t offer a definitive solution to the issues that it addresses. It remains a grim reality that it is hard for artists to make a living, and the film’s ambiguous ending doesn’t suggest an easy solution to the disparity between creators and benefactors.

‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ Shows Jake Gyllenhaal at His Weirdest

While the film includes a stacked cast of veteran character actors, Velvet Buzzsaw shows that Gyllenhaal is at his best when he’s playing idiosyncratic roles. It would be very easy for Morf to be an incredibly obnoxious protagonist whose negative attitude brings the film’s pacing to a grinding halt; however, Gyllenhaal has so much fun chewing the scenery and firing off callous remarks about the art that he observes that it’s impossible to look away from him. He may be a character the audience loves to hate, but that doesn’t make him any less watchable.

While he has a very impressive resume, Gyllenhaal often does his best work in absurd genre mashups. In the years between Nightcrawler and Velvet Buzzsaw, some of his more impressive roles have been in the offbeat Western adventure The Sisters Brothers and the science fiction satire Okja. Perhaps another collaboration with Gilroy will help him once again utilize the idiosyncrasies that make him such a dynamic leading man.

Velvet Buzzsaw is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

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