Velvet Buzzsaw

The creatives behind Nightcrawler reunite for an anemic mix of satire and horror set in the contemporary art world. Jake Gyllenhaal plays an influential critic jockeying to exploit a batch of cursed artwork.

A novel premise, but the film never commits. I loved Gyllenhaal’s incessant commenting on a funeral’s décor choices, and the shot of school children tromping bloody footprints over a museum’s pristine white floors. But the rest of the satire fell flat.

The horror disappointed as well. I appreciated the surreal presentation, but the central mystery didn’t engage and the atmosphere never attained the level of dread present in better curse stories.

…I’m struggling to land this review, so I’ll punt and say I wanted more bite, but this Buzzsaw lacks teeth.