Violet

Directed by Justine Bateman, Violet follows a film executive (Olivia Munn’s Violet) as she attempts to overcome a series of obstacles, including an abusive boss (Dennis Boutsikaris’ Tom) and crushing self-doubt, to become a happier, more confident person. It’s a decidedly familiar setup that’s employed to erratic yet mostly compelling effect by Bateman, as the first-time filmmaker, armed with her own screenplay, delivers a low-key character study that benefits substantially from its strong performances and smattering of absorbing sequences – with, in terms of the former, Munn’s impressively subdued and completely sympathetic turn as the anxious protagonist anchoring the proceedings from start to finish. There’s little doubt, however, that Bateman’s continued use of intrusive elements to portray Violet’s inner thoughts, including on-screen writing and bursts of oddball images, are occasionally distracting (and extraneous), although, admittedly, the barrage of negative thoughts from Violet’s inner “committee” (voiced by Justin Theroux) works unexpectedly well and goes a long way towards explaining why the character is so riddled with doubt and low self-esteem. And while the first half is watchable yet hardly spellbinding, Violet does progress into a thoroughly rewarding final third that fares much better than one might’ve anticipated and includes several spellbinding interludes (eg Violet finally tells off her abusive brother) – which ultimately cements the picture’s place as a solid debut from a tremendously promising filmmaker.

*** out of ****

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