REVIEW: IMDB 7.2, Rotten Tomatoes 75% critics, 90% audience score, Metacritics 65 critics, audience 71
Why did they rate it so highly? Unlike the person who posted two threads with lots of posts here, these people ACTUALLY SAW THE FILM.
As I posted elsewhere, it does not appear to be a horror film... until it becomes one. It was released for Halloween weekend. It is a British film that did not have $40 million to invest in marketing. See it in a theater while you still can. Do not watch the trailer, which spoils the film.
The story is about a young woman, played by Thomasin McKenzie, who really likes music and fashion from the 1960s. She moves to London to attend a fashion school. She begins to have dreams about a woman living there in the 1960s, played by Anya Taylor-Joy. A lot of memorable songs from that time are played. That era was much more misogynistic than later decades. Opportunities for women were limited, and often based on the whims of men. We see one woman and a small group of people she encountered, not the entire world.
The audience sees what happened back then, and how it is tied to the present. Some critics and posters here complained about the last act. I thought it worked really well. If the whole film went in another direction, it would have been boring and pointless. You are in for a ride!
I think this British film will be nominated for BAFTA awards, including best supporting actress for the elderly Diana Rigg. She passed away at age 82 before it was released. (Some people might remember her from HBO's Game of Thrones, or when she was younger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969).) Margaret Nolan, a Sean Connery Bond girl, plays an elderly barmaid. She also passed away at age 76 before the film was released.
The BAFTAs may have instituted a silly race quota system for 2021, which might account for the black male character. But this film involves a fashion school. If they wanted to go all-out woke, they could have easily added a group of gay males to that class. They just didn't have time for that, and still tell this story. There are some great twists. One involves a white male good guy. So they are NOT all evil.