BY JACK RANSOM MAY 11, 2024
The newest film from experimental cult filmmaker Harmony Korine.
SYNOPSIS
Aggro Dr1ft is entirely shot in infrared and evokes a dreamlike portrait of a tormented assassin (Jordi Mollà) as he contemplates life, death and love.
REVIEW
I have only seen one of Korine’s directorial efforts so far (both Gummo and The Beach Bum are on my radar). Spring Breakers - which was a long while ago, but I remember vibing with its sleazy, gratuitous and black comedy laced nastiness. I am always sceptical going into films that are substantially plotless and solely rely on ‘vibes’- and this unfortunately was my worst anxieties made truth from within the first 20 minutes or so.
Korine introduced the film in a suitably expected bizarre and awkward fashion, stating that with this feature he wanted to “go beyond film” and to “not try to understand it”, which already set the alarm bells ringing. I found this incredibly dull and obnoxious for about 90% of the duration. It is essentially plotless and meanders around repetitively with excruciating, mumbling inner monologues and nonsensical ramblings. Occasionally interspersed with giant, twerking asses, a snorting hip thrusting demonic inflicted antagonist and pointless family side distraction.
The thermal imaging novelty admittedly leads to some striking shots and no doubt would have been an effective short film and the pulsing score stands out. It’s just a shame that the endless samey establishing shots grow tired and the undeniably A.I. created smatterings of glitchy expressions, masks and outfits range from awkward to awful.
Aggro Dr1ft is an exhausting, grating, incoherent and dull experiment that had the potential to be a cool experiment and a unique cinematic experience. Outside of some striking shots and consistent score this was a total waste of time.
STAR RATING
Aggro Dr1ft is out now in select cinemas
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