Taglines: On Plymouth Island, no one ever dies…Unless you break the rules.
Baker Dill (Matthew McConaughey) is a fishing boat captain leading tours off a tranquil, tropical enclave called Plymouth Island. His quiet life is shattered, however, when his ex-wife Karen (Anne Hathaway) tracks him down with a desperate plea for help. She begs Dill to save her – and their young son – from her new, violent husband (Jason Clarke) by taking him out to sea on a fishing excursion, only to throw him to the sharks and leave him for dead. Karen’s appearance thrusts Dill back into a life he’d tried to forget, and as he struggles between right and wrong, his world is plunged into a new reality that may not be all that it seems.
Serenity is a 2019 American fantasy mystery thriller film written, produced and directed by Steven Knight. The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane, Jason Clarke, Djimon Hounsou, and Jeremy Strong, and follows a fishing boat captain who is approached by his ex-wife to murder her abusive new husband. First announced in January 2017, principal photography on the film began on Mauritius that July. Serenity was released in the United States on January 25, 2019, by Aviron Pictures[5] to mostly negative reviews from critics.
Film Review for Serenity
“Serenity” is terrible and insane, and will surely end up being one of the worst films of 2019. But it’s also such a wildly ambitious roller coaster ride that it must be experienced, preferably with friends, to laugh together at its cheesy dialogue, over-the-top performances and multiple, major plot twists. So I guess what I’m saying is, see it …?
Writer / director Steven Knight, whose 2014 Tom Hardy drama “Locke” is a compact marvel of precision and suspense, once again tries to dazzle us with narrative daring. But what ends up happening is that he partially pulls the rug out from underneath us about halfway through, then yanks the whole thing out by the end, then waves the rug around in the air as if to joyfully shout: “Ha! This is the rug you were standing on! See? It’s not underneath you anymore!” Giant twists like the ones that ultimately come to define “Serenity” often can be thrilling, and can provide some enjoyment in trying to go back in your mind and search for clues. What Knight does as his game becomes clearer, however, only raises more questions than he answers – and some of those questions are downright icky.
It all starts out as a seemingly straightforward neo-noir, full of damaged characters and desperate circumstances. Matthew McConaughey chews up the sunny scenery as the improbably named Baker Dill, a chain-smoking, rum-swilling Iraq war veteran who spends his days as the captain of a fishing boat for hire on the idyllic, tropical island of Plymouth. Dill is obsessed with an elusive, behemoth tuna he’s nicknamed Justice (in a not-so-subtle bit of symbolism), a quest so famous, it’s a constant source of conversation wherever he goes. Djimon Hounsou is his dutiful and pious first mate, Duke, a black character who’s such a pure voice of reason and so willing to sacrifice his own well being for Dill’s greater good that he borders on magical.
One day, a chic blonde from Dill’s past comes sauntering through the door of the island’s only bar: Anne Hathaway’s Karen, his ex and the mother of the couple’s teenage son, from whom Dill has become estranged. Karen is now miserably married to the man she left Dill for: Jason Clarke’s Frank Zariakas, a monstrous man of shadowy wealth who abuses her verbally and physically. As film noir femme fatales tend to do, Karen has tracked Dill down to offer him an unsavory proposition: Take Frank out on the boat, pretend it’s a fishing trip, ply him with alcohol and push him overboard to let the sharks devour him. If he does it, she’ll pay him $10 million.
Now, at this point (or even long beforehand) you’re probably wondering to yourself: Is Knight serious? What was he thinking making a movie that’s smothered in a pulpy tone and brimming with clichéd types? It’s all so arch: Does he mean it, or is this some sort of parody? We haven’t even gotten to Diane Lane’s character, the beautiful older woman who lies about her bungalow all day in silky robes, looking through the slats in the shutters, waiting for Dill to stop by so she can pay him for a roll in the hay (with some truly cringeworthy post-coital repartee). She literally leaves this room once – and that’s to go to Dill’s house. The film’s treatment of its female characters is not exactly woke.
Serenity (2019)
Directed by: Steven Knight
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane, Djimon Hounsou, Jason Clarke, Jeremy Strong, Rafael Sayegh, Robert Hobbs, Edeen Bhugeloo, Vinaya Sungkur, Guillaume Silavant
Screenplay by: Steven Knight
Production Design by: Andrew McAlpine
Cinematography by: Jess Hall
Film Editing by: Laura Jennings
Costume Design by: Danny Glicker
Set Decoration by: Alexia Acker, Jo Stuart Fox
Art Direction by: Frederic Evard, Jono Moles, Christina Moore
Music by: Benjamin Wallfisch
MPAA Rating: R for language throughout, sexual content, and some bloody images.
Distributed by: Aviron Pictures
Release Date: January 25, 2019
Visits: 25
