I decided to check this film out because the premise sounded very interesting but it was told in a way I didn't expect.

Thoroughbreds follow two teenage girls, Amanda and Lily, who both scheme to kill Lily's stepfather.

This is a very strange film. Cory Finley has a background in plays and it clearly shows in Thoroughbreds. There are a lot of scenes where characters just talk in one location but what makes it fun to watch is the dialogue and performances. The humour may not appeal to everybody but I found a lot of the lines to be pretty funny. It reminded me of American Psycho a lot. The humour is very dark and subtle and if you're on board with that then you may like this film. Alongside that, Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy are pretty fantastic in this film. They have great chemistry with one another and suit their roles really well. Unfortunately this is Anton Yelchin's final performance but he shines during the scenes he's present in.

The cinematography and production design was really good. The score is what really stood out to me. It's filled with all sorts of strange sounds that fit well with the overall style of the film. The ending does feel underwhelming and it could be due to budget constraints or Finley's background in plays.

For the most part I enjoyed the deadpan humour and I thought Finley's approach to this kind of film was quite refreshing but I feel the story and the stakes could have been elevated more to make it even more entertaining.

Many moody teenagers must have rhetorically contemplated killing their parents (and step-parents); one thing someone in that situation doesn't need is a best friend "unable to feel emotions" who may not dissuade but rather offer practical advice. Such is the premise of Cory Finley's film 'Thoroughbreds'. The movie is shot coolly; the worst violence occurs offscreen, the score is mostly silence except for key moments, the world where the action is set is one of wealth and taste, but also one that feels empty and remote from ordinary's people's lives. The protagonists, in spite of their youth, are jaded and know-it-all. The film's weakness, perhaps, is it's ending; it turns out the central character really really does want to kill her stepdad, which is OK as a plot non-twist (this is the ending we might have been expecting the story to twist away from) but doesn't leave the viewer anything to care about.