Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Toni Collette, Zawe Ashton, Tom Sturridge, Natalia Dyer, Daveed Diggs, Billy Magnussen, and John Malkovich. That’s quite a long list of A-listers involved with Velvet Buzzsaw, a darkly comedic horror from the same folks behind Nightcrawler.
There is weird and there is weird… and then there is Velvet Buzzsaw. If the first trailer is anything to go by, we’re in for a really strange but fun ride when the film drops on Netflix next month. The trailer alone has social media abuzz with comments and memes. Can you imagine what it will be like once the film actually goes live?
If you haven’t realised it, Jake Gyllenhaal is a remarkably talented actor. How else would you explain how he goes from roles like Billy Hope in Southpaw to characters like Dr. Johnny Wilcox in Okja? In Velvet Buzzsaw, he seems to be channelling a side of himself we’ve never seen before.
“There is some sort of power, some spirit, that is connected to his art,” a very distressed Gyllenhaal screams in the middle of all the weirdness. “Something truly goddamn strange!” Are we meant to laugh or be afraid? I’m not quite sure.
Velvet Buzzsaw arrives on February 1, 2019. I’ll definitely be watching.