Release Date: Out Now
Director: Nash Edgerton
Writers: Joel Edgerton, Matthew Dabner
Cinematographer: Brad Shield
Starring: David Roberts, Claire von der Boom, Joel Edgerton, Anthony Hayes
Studio/Run time: Apparition, 101 min.
Round hole, square peg
Raymond (David Roberts) and Carla (Claire van der Boom) are married, and having affairs. They’re also involved in embezzlement and robbery, and are considering running away with the proceeds of their crimes at the earliest opportunity. Their attempt to escape with their loot and lucre involves burning down Carla’s house to destroy the evidence of their crimes, but soon more and more parties learn of their schemes. Director Nash Edgerton ably steers this crime thriller into progressively darker territory, but The Square lacks bite—it’s nearly impossible to care about what happens to the couple. The movie’s protagonists (and all of its supporting characters) are reprehensible people, and Roberts’ performance is fascinatingly uncharismatic, extinguishing any possibility of sympathy for his character even when the film gradually reveals his town to be populated entirely by borderline sociopaths. The Edgertons seem to think the movie is about the ends to which we’ll go for love, but The Square’s characters only love themselves.