Sanctuary

Have you seen _Secretary_ (2002)? Okay, now imagine that, only in one location, and with just two actors. Yup, that's it. After watching _The Substance_ (2024), I needed more Margaret Qualley. While she is great in this, I was hoping for a bit more. I would call this a dark romantic drama, and it's exactly what one should expect from Neon, at this point. The plot is very simple, and it all plays out in real time; you are just spending ninety minutes with these two. Goodbye, the end. While the movie didn't particularly wow me, I think it will find an audience. All I'm going to remember is Qualley dancing, and making weird faces. I recommend this if you want to know what Neon's idea of a romcom is.

***Sanctuary*** is something along the lines of a rom-com psychological-drama erotic-thriller. Dialogue and character driven all the way. It reminded me a lot of last year's *Good Luck to You, Leo Grande*. Excellent character study and relationship/power dynamics. You're never really sure if they're playing the script or improvising. There's sooo many conversational back and forths and twists and turns, it's pretty much a cat and mouse game. It does get redundant and unbelievable in the second half but it still kept me invested. It's not afraid of taking risks, the way it totally releases the tension in the first act but then manages to pick back up again on several occasions is commendable. The dialogue is mostly stagey, over-the-top (nobody talks like that) but it reflects the whole premise of this movie: it's a façade and breaking it is the whole point. The performances are excellent but Margaret Qualley blew me away, she was given more playing ground to showcase her skills than Christopher Abbott though. Every movement and object has a crisp sound, energetic score, claustrophobic set and the colors really pop. Unpredictable from beginning to end and perfect ending! First watch: 7/10 Second watch: 8/10