Courteney Cox's 'Evil Genius' Panned as Shrill at TIFF — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Courteney Cox directed "Evil Genius," her first feature since 2014's "Just Before I Go," premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival
- Patricia Arquette stars as Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong in what the review calls an "unmodulated, to-the-rafters" performance that could draw Emmy attention if it lands at a streamer
- David Harbour co-stars as co-conspirator Bill Rothstein with what the review describes as "quietly shambling" work, with Arquette's real-life daughter Harlow Jane playing her younger self
- The film dramatizes the August 28, 2003 death of pizza deliverer Brian Wells, who robbed a PNC Bank branch in Erie, Pennsylvania wearing a collar bomb that detonated and killed him after police apprehended him
- The 97-minute script by Courtenay Miles — a writer on Netflix's "Mindhunter" — crams the saga that Netflix's four-episode 2018 "Evil Genius" documentary unfolded over more than twice the runtime, with the review noting the compression is felt
- Cinematographer Eigil Bryld uses "intentionally harsh, roughly framed lensing" paired with an abrasive rock soundtrack spanning Blue Oyster Cult to Radiohead, with the review judging the film "casts a pretty ugly story in the ugliest possible light"
Why it matters: The review frames "Evil Genius" as a built-in-audience curiosity unlikely to draw theatergoers, suggesting its commercial future lies in streaming rather than theatrical release. Arquette's "offputting but undeniably attention-grabbing" turn is flagged as the one asset with awards potential, meaning a streamer pickup — rather than festival acclaim — would define the film's fate.
Ask SkimNews
