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Anna finds writer-director Luc Besson squarely in his wheelhouse, but fans of this variety of stylized action have seen it all done before -- and better.

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If “Anna” were made by any other filmmaker, it could be dismissed as little more than a shameless attempt to copy the offbeat and visually stylish action epics of French filmmaker Luc Besson that goes disastrously wrong right from the start and only gets worse as things progress. In fact, “Anna” was written and directed by Besson himself and it still feels like a misfired rehash of his greatest hits. In the wake of the enormous box-office failure of his previous film, the wildly ambitious sci-fi saga “ Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets ," it makes a certain amount of sense that he might want to retreat to something a little more familiar as a way of reestablishing his commercial standing, but even long-standing fans of his will find it hard to muster much enthusiasm for this startlingly lazy bit of by-the-numbers hackwork.

As the film opens in 1990, Anna ( Sasha Luss ), a beautiful young Russian, is selling nesting dolls in a Moscow market when she is spotted by a scout for a French modeling agency and sent off to Paris to work. Before long, she catches the eye of a fellow countryman, a wealthy businessman who is one of the investors in the firm, using the money that he makes illegally selling weapons to the enemies of the world. After a couple of months of flirtation, it seems as she is about to go to bed with him until she puts an end to the whole thing by cooly putting a bullet in his head. 

Three years earlier, the brilliant-but-downtrodden Anna was living on the fringes of society with an abusive criminal boyfriend and a desperate need to escape her horrible circumstances. This escape comes in the form of Alex (( Luke Evans ), a KGB agent who recognizes the usefulness of her combination of beauty, brains and ambition and offers her a chance to join the organization and work with him and his boss, the imperious Olga ( Helen Mirren , evidently using this film as an audition reel for the role of Edna in the inevitable live-action remake of “ The Incredibles .”), with the promise that she will be free to go after five years of service.

Back in 1990, Anna is maintaining her cover as an up-and-coming model, even going so far as to establish a romance with fellow model named Maud ( Lera Abova ) while knocking off the occasional target—generally while wearing something of a fetishy nature—and carrying on a clandestine romance with Alex in her spare time. Eventually, Anna’s cover is blown by Lenny Miller ( Cillian Murphy ), an American CIA agent who wants to put her to use for his own particular ends to settle a gruesome score depicted in an otherwise mystifying prologue. With no other alternative, Anna agrees and even begins sleeping with him as well. Before long, however, Anna just wants to be rid of all entanglements and deploys her cunning, sexuality and ability to kill many people while wearing what appears to be the entire Victoria’s Secret spring line.

At this point, some of you with longer memories may be thinking that this description of “Anna” makes it sound quite similar to “ La Femme Nikita ,” the 1990 action hit that marked Besson’s major international breakthrough. In fact, it is so similar in so many ways that it feels as if Besson dug up an early draft of that screenplay and simply shot that after changing the character names and some of the locations. (This might explain why the story insists on taking place around 1990 even though the technology employed by the characters throughout is almost distractingly anachronistic.) Now if Besson had chosen to rework such familiar material as a way of exploring the change in gender attitudes in genre filmmaking since the release of “La Femme Nikita,” that might have been an interesting approach (especially considering how the film’s release comes on the heels of several allegations of sexual misconduct, including rape, that have been leveled against Besson over the last year or so), but the only significant addition here is a distractingly fragmented time structure in which a shocking revelation is made and then the story rewinds to spend a chunk of time explaining the backstory behind the new development. This approach adds nothing of value or interest to the proceedings and has clearly been deployed in an attempt to distract viewers from recognizing just how predictable everything really is.

I have been a passionate fan of Besson’s films for years and have embraced his films—yes, even “Valerian”—for their impeccable and distinctive style, the intricately choreographed action sequences, the cheerfully oddball narratives often studded with moments of welcome wacko humor and the charismatic performances from the actresses who have been the central figures of most of his stories over the years. Amazingly, virtually none of these elements are on display here. Instead of the infectious and almost gleeful energy that usually drives his films, Besson just seems to be going through the motions, and his work, despite the contributions of such regular collaborators as cinematographer Thierry Arbogast , editor Julien Rey and composer Eric Serra , is as bland as can be. Aside from two admittedly standout sequences—Anna’s debut as an assassin in a crowded restaurant, in which she ends up using broken plates as lethal weapons, and a montage that juxtaposes her modeling and murdering gigs—the actions beats are ho-hum and the entire thing is lacking any real sense of humor. (The film has one ingenious idea—the conceit of a cutthroat killer going undercover in the equally cutthroat world of modelling—but does nothing with it other than the aforementioned montage and an off-putting bit where Anna gets revenge on a creepy photographer seemingly inspired by Terry Richardson.) As for Sasha Luss, she is undeniably gorgeous but does not bring much of anything else to the table here—she certainly demonstrates none of the undeniable screen charisma displayed by the likes of Anne Parillaud , Natalie Portman , Milla Jovovich and Cara Delevingne in their various screen collaborations with Besson.

Of course, Besson has made bad movies in the past but even in clunkers like “The Family” and “ The Lady ,” he was at least making some kind of discernible effort. “Anna,” on the other hand, is so aimless and listless that you can hardly believe that he was even on the set for the majority of its production. All he has to offer here is the aforementioned two decent action scenes, some interesting underwear and a Helen Mirren performance that is mildly amusing, though it will not take up too much time in any future Lifetime Achievement highlight reels. Of course, there will be some who will decry that someone under the kind of cloud of suspicion that Besson is still facing should not be allowed to make and release any film in this current climate. Ironicaly, if this had actually happened to “Anna,” though, it would have only been doing Besson a favor.

Peter Sobczynski

A moderately insightful critic, full-on Swiftie and all-around  bon vivant , Peter Sobczynski, in addition to his work at this site, is also a contributor to The Spool and can be heard weekly discussing new Blu-Ray releases on the Movie Madness podcast on the Now Playing network.

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Anna (2019)

Rated R for strong violence, language, and some sexual content.

119 minutes

Sasha Luss as Anna

Luke Evans as Alex Tchenkov

Helen Mirren as Olga

Cillian Murphy as Lenny Miller

Alexander Petrov as Piotr

Lera Abova as Maud

Nikita Pavlenko as Vlad

Anna Krippa as Nika

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• Thierry Arbogast

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Anna (2019), common sense media reviewers.

Violent, escapist action has a strong female lead.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The movie is mostly about a quest for "freedom," w

Anna is a strong, powerful woman, but she never tr

Strong martial arts violence, with hitting, kickin

Anna has sex with two men at different times; thru

Strong language, with several uses of "f--k," "s--

Supporting character chain-smokes cigarettes. Some

Parents need to know that Anna is a sleek, violent action movie from director Luc Besson ( The Fifth Element ) about a KGB assassin (supermodel Sasha Luss). Expect lots of intense martial arts violence, with punching, kicking, stabbing, slicing, and impaling. You'll see dead bodies and lots of blood,…

Positive Messages

The movie is mostly about a quest for "freedom," which is defined (for the main character, at least) as not having to be under the control of anyone else. Otherwise, the movie is mainly about an endless string of killing in your country's name.

Positive Role Models

Anna is a strong, powerful woman, but she never truly feels free or like her own woman (it's a goal she works toward throughout the movie). She's also a relentless killer, and she can be seen as representing an unrealistic female body image.

Violence & Scariness

Strong martial arts violence, with hitting, kicking, stabbing, slicing, impaling. Lots of guns, shooting, blood. Characters are shot, with blood spurts. Car crashes. Dead bodies. Pools of blood. Severed head in a box. Character swallows suicide drugs. Elderly character with bloody face locked in car trunk. Woman bashed in head. A character slices her own wrist, yielding a puddle of blood. Someone is beaten with a camera.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Anna has sex with two men at different times; thrusting shown. She's topless in one scene, wears lingerie and revealing/tight clothing throughout. Passionate kissing. Stripping clothes off, heavy breathing. Scene of a man and two women together in bed. Sex talk. Reference to prostitution.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Strong language, with several uses of "f--k," "s--t," "t-ts," "bitch," "hell," "idiot," "pr--k," "Christ" (as an exclamation).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Supporting character chain-smokes cigarettes. Some social drinking, champagne, etc. Dialogue about buying beer, "getting high."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Anna is a sleek, violent action movie from director Luc Besson ( The Fifth Element ) about a KGB assassin (supermodel Sasha Luss). Expect lots of intense martial arts violence, with punching, kicking, stabbing, slicing, and impaling. You'll see dead bodies and lots of blood, guns and shooting, car chases/crashes, and more. Anna is topless in one scene, sometimes wears revealing lingerie, and has sex with more than one partner. There are also scenes of passionate kissing, heavy breathing, clothes being ripped off, and a man in bed with two women. Characters talk about sex, and prostitution is referenced. Language is strong throughout, with uses of "f--k," "s--t," "t-ts," and more. A supporting character chain-smokes cigarettes, social drinking is shown, and there's a reference to getting high. Anna is a strong, powerful woman, but she's also a relentless killer, and she never truly feels free. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (3)
• Kids say (5)

Based on 3 parent reviews

Adult movies are for adults, imo

What's the story.

In ANNA, Anna Poliatova (Sasha Luss) is discovered selling Russian nesting dolls in an outdoor market and becomes a successful model. But, as one of her suitors discovers too late, she's also a highly trained assassin for the KGB. Anna's story leaps back and forth in time, covering her humble beginnings as the miserable girlfriend of a low-life thief and her initial recruitment by Alex Tchenkov ( Luke Evans ), with whom she forms a romantic attachment. Her first assignment goes badly, but her superior, Olga ( Helen Mirren ), reluctantly decides to give her a second chance. Anna also crosses paths with American CIA agent Lenny Miller ( Cillian Murphy ), which again changes her fate. In the end, Anna just wants to be free of it all, but she must concoct an exceedingly clever plan to make that happen.

Is It Any Good?

Writer/director Luc Besson returns with another action movie that prizes swift economy and slick entertainment over depth and meaning, but centers on a powerful, strong leading woman. Anna reunites the director with supermodel Luss, who previously appeared as a princess in Besson's underappreciated Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets . Unlike many models-turned-actresses, Luss is quite commanding and relatable on-screen. She manages Anna 's complexly choreographed action scenes with grace and skill and effectively conveys the sheer overwhelming exhaustion of her situation.

Besson tries to get clever with his time-flipping screenplay, which throws viewers back and forth to various moments between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. While the device is somewhat silly -- and nowhere near as effective as it is in, say, Pulp Fiction -- it actually does help keep a measure of mystery around the character. In the cast, Mirren is plenty of fun, chewing the scenery as a curt, unforgiving veteran KGB agent, and the two main male characters (Evans and Murphy) are understandably smitten with Anna. Anna may run a little too long (it's not as smartly compact as Besson's terrific Lucy ), but it looks great, moves beautifully, and feels like total, successful escapism.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Anna 's violence . How did it make you feel? Was it shocking or thrilling? How did the filmmakers achieve this effect?

Is Anna a role model ? What are her strengths? Where could she improve? Does she have agency? Why does that matter?

How does the movie depict sex ? What values are imparted? How do they compare to your own values regarding sex and relationships?

What is the type of freedom that Anna seeks? Is such freedom possible? Do you feel free?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 21, 2019
• On DVD or streaming : September 24, 2019
• Cast : Sasha Luss , Helen Mirren , Luke Evans , Cillian Murphy
• Director : Luc Besson
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Gay actors
• Studio : Summit Entertainment
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Run time : 119 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : strong violence, language, and some sexual content
• Last updated : June 20, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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‘Anna’ Review: a Curiously Familiar Female Assassin

Luc Besson’s latest film often turns on seduction and shifting power dynamics between men and women.

• Share full article

By Bilge Ebiri

In Luc Besson’s “Anna,” a struggling, beautiful young woman is coerced into becoming a world-class assassin, and finds herself pining for her freedom while dispatching her targets. Sound familiar? It’s roughly the same outline as the director’s 1991 hit “La Femme Nikita,” which proved the French could outdo Hollywood at making action movies. “Anna” isn’t as stylish or gripping as “Nikita,” but it does have its own demented charm, particularly in how it toys with structure, nesting competing narrative timelines within each other.

We first meet our heroine Anna (Sasha Luss) as she’s approached at a Moscow market by a scout for a Paris modeling agency. She promptly enters the world of high fashion, and it’s not until she kills an arms dealer who’s courting her that the film doubles back, revealing Anna’s prior recruitment by the KGB. That’s not the whole story either: Over and over, the film proceeds down one narrative path, then jumps back as each twist reveals a new, hidden thread. Besson keeps the story and action clear while deftly slipping in minor details that prove crucial later on.

“Anna” is entertainingly put together, but it might be hard to be entertained by it. Last year, the director was accused by a number of women of sexual assault, which he has denied. It’s hard not to be reminded of such matters when watching a film that often turns on seduction and shifting power dynamics in male-female relations. “Anna” can’t live in a vacuum.

Rated R for scantily-clad stabbing, slicing, shooting and slashing, and an alarming number of exploding heads. Running time: 1 hour 59 minutes.

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Film Review: Luc Besson’s ‘Anna’

Russian model Sasha Luss' big shot at action-figure stardom is overshadowed by the #MeToo controversy around director Luc Besson in what amounts to a stylish rehash of 'La Femme Nikita' and other if-looks-could-kill thrillers.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

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Luc Besson ’s “ Anna ” wrapped photography in December 2017. Less than three months later, Fox released “Red Sparrow,” an extra-icy Cold War thriller about a Russian ballerina (played by Jennifer Lawrence) recruited by Soviet foreign intelligence to become an assassin and spy, trained to use her sex appeal as a weapon while leveraging her intelligence to outwit her handlers.

The day “Red Sparrow” opened must have been a very bad one for Besson, since that movie is basically the smarter, more sophisticated version of the story he’d imagined for “Anna,” which stars model-turned-actress Sasha Luss as a Russian assassin turned model who dispatches KGB targets between fashion shoots. You get the picture. Except that even “Red Sparrow” was a rehash of sorts.

A year earlier, Charlize Theron had appeared in “Atomic Blonde,” an intense triple-crossing, Iron Curtain action movie, which gave the Oscar-winning glamour queen the opportunity to demonstrate that she could outmaneuver any man — female empowerment as hyperkinetic fashion show.

Already too close to “Anna” in concept, that movie should have sent Besson back to the drawing board — especially when you consider that 17 years earlier, in 1990, he had made a version of all these stories: “La Femme Nikita,” which would have been a fine title for this Russian-accented if-looks-could-kill thriller had he not named an assassin that once before.

Popular on Variety

Flash forward nearly two decades, and Besson — who has since amassed a full catalog of movies driven by strong female heroines (“Lucy,” “The Lady,” “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc”), which have collectively earned more than a billion dollars at the box office — stands accused of inappropriate behavior by at least nine women, one of whom, actress Sand Van Roy, filed charges of rape with French police last May.

One year later, that off-screen drama has overtaken “Anna,” leading Summit to dump the movie on more than 2,100 screens — a wide release — with no publicity or advance press screenings.

If it sounds like we’re jumping around in time here, that’s a deliberate (if contrived) way of mirroring the style of Besson’s film, which shuffles the events in its title character’s ultra-patient, five-moves-ahead bid for freedom like a sleight-of-hand artist, playing and replaying certain scenes in such a way that audiences must constantly reassess who’s in control.

But it’s one thing to write a character who’s smarter and more talented than everyone in the room and quite another to actually be that person in real life. And Besson, who — like Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, the man responsible for “Total Recall” and “RoboCop” — has a proven gift for making highly polished genre movies that appear to have been tailored to the intellect and interests of 13-year-old male audiences, must now contend with the #MeToo movement. The filmmaker who all but invented the modern female action hero now finds himself under scrutiny for charges of sexual misconduct.

Under different circumstances, “Anna” might have done blockbuster business and launched the career of leading lady Luss. (“Resident Evil” star Milla Jovovich owes her action-figure career to Besson, who saw that potential in her with “The Fifth Element.”) Instead, it’s being analyzed as more of a lecherous exercise in female objectification than empowerment — between which there isn’t so much a fine line as a nonexistent one, depending on what role you perceive sexuality as playing in a woman’s strength.

Had “Anna” come out at the time it’s set, between the years of 1985 and ’90, it surely would have felt like a revolutionary concept: a woman who, without being raped (as in Abel Ferrara’s “Ms. 45”) or aggressed (à la Gena Rowlands in “Gloria”), transforms into an incredibly resourceful kickass heroine. But culture is changing fast, and critics who once touted Tarantino as a feminist for celebrating such women in “Jackie Brown” and the “Kill Bill” movies are now grossed out by the director’s foot fetish.

“Anna” shows that Besson is the same filmmaker now that he was 20 years ago, and unlike his title character, who lithely adapts to whatever situation she’s in, he’s been telling roughly the same story over and over all this time. The thing is, he’s great at it, and if you’re a fan of Besson’s slick, comic book-style approach (he storyboards complex scenes with a logical elegance that makes them clean and intuitive to follow), then “Anna” is bound to entertain.

Luss, whose widely spaced cerulean eyes and poker-faced model’s pout lend themselves nicely to the idea that Anna is an inscrutable nesting doll of multifarious personalities, rises to the challenge of such a physical role, the demands of which range from elaborately staged fight sequences to carefully modulated micro-expressions. She’s not terribly interesting at first, pretending to sell Matryoshka in a Moscow market where Anna is discovered by a French talent scout and whisked away to the frenetic Paris fashion scene. (Everyone associated with that world, but especially the demanding hacks who photograph Anna, are portrayed as monsters — like caricatures of tyrannical film directors.)

It’s not until almost half an hour later, after Anna has been recruited and trained by the KGB, when she is sent in to assassinate a heavily guarded Russian goon with nothing more than an unloaded weapon, that we begin to appreciate the actress’ potential. The scene is brilliantly choreographed and conveys for the first time how a woman previously characterized by her legs and lashes can actually think on her feet.

Among Anna’s skills, we’re told, are an aptitude for languages (with the exception of an early flashback, performed in Luss’ native Russian, the film was shot in English), excellent marksmanship, advanced martial arts training and a knack for chess. This last detail is as obvious a metaphor as it sounds, since Anna must always be several moves ahead of her minders — whether red-blooded recruiter Alex Tchenkov ( Luke Evans , with whom she has great chemistry); his sour-faced supervisor Olga (Helen Mirren, who purses her lips and pretends to be ruthless); or the flirtatious CIA agent, Lenny Miller (Cillian Murphy), who falls under her spell.

Besson, who wrote “Anna” himself, wants the guessing game of where her allegiances lie to appear complicated, but it’s rather elementary, making the plot of John le Carré’s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” feel like higher-level calculus by comparison. If not for the distraction of the nonlinear time jumps (clearly signaled by on-screen text, so audiences are never lost), it might almost be described as simple-minded — which is a considerable improvement over the unnecessarily complicated “Atomic Blonde.” Besson’s set-pieces may not be as show-offy as the ones David Leitch directed in that film, but they feel fresh and playful, as in the stylish body-count-accumulating montage set to INXS’ “Need You Tonight.”

Will anything in “Anna” take audiences by surprise? Nothing so much as the fact that such a broadly appealing mainstream thrill ride should be released so unceremoniously as this, almost as if it were being done to fulfill contractual obligations. It’s nowhere near the embarrassment of Brian De Palma’s “Domino,” or any number of recent studio tentpoles. Nor is it fresh enough to pretend that audiences had missed out on something special if it had been buried altogether — except perhaps for Luss, who’s bound to get another shot.

Reviewed at AMC Century City, Los Angeles, July 20, 2019. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 119 MIN.

• Production: (U.S.-France) A Summit release and presentation of a EuropaCorp, TF1 Films production, with the participation of OCS, TF1, Canal, Plus TMC. Producers: Marc Shmuger, Luc Besson.
• Crew: Director, writer: Luc Besson. Camera (color): Thierry Arbogast. Editor: Julien Rey. Music: Eric Serra.
• With: Sasha Luss, Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy, Helen Mirren , Lera Abova, Sasha Petrov, Nikita Pavlenko, Anna Krippa, Aleksey Maslodudov, Eric Godon, Ivan Franek, Jean-Baptiste Puech, Adrian Can, Alison Wheeler. (English, Russian dialogue)

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Anna Review

Whether it's La Femme Nikita or Lucy , to name but a few, writer/director/producer Luc Besson has found his biggest commercial successes with action movies centered around their leading ladies kicking ass and taking names in elaborate, spectacular fashion. So, it makes a good deal of sense that when the French filmmaker's long-winded passion project -- the extravagantly goofy, bubbly bizarre space opera, Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets -- didn't make a killing (to say the least...) that he would want to return to his most dependable, proven filmmaking formula to garner some much-needed financial success. Admittedly, Anna , the latest action-thriller from Luc Besson, does ring true to Besson's tired-and-true method.

A pulpy, twisty spy thriller period piece, Anna is a boilerplate throwback action flick by design. Centered around the mysterious, dexterous and highly lethal title character, Anna (Sasha Luss, in her first leading role) is a cunning, ruthless young woman who splits her time between two totally different, yet equally cutthroat, high-demand jobs: professional modeling and top-tier assassin work for the Russian government. She lives a hard life, despite the extravagance that comes with each occupation, and it only gets harder when CIA agent Lenny Miller ( Cillian Murphy ) follows her every move. To give away more would risk the possibility of revealing any number of the movie's time-hopping twists, which practically make you dizzy after awhile.

What should be evident here, however, is that the plot to Anna sounds awfully familiar to a movie that came out just a year earlier: Red Sparrow . Even down to the inclusion of a couple of British actors — in this case, Helen Mirren and Luke Evans — providing, we'll say, questionable Russian accents. It's not a direct cut-and-paste copy, and Luc Besson's movie was in production months before Red Sparrow came to theaters, but the comparisons are unavoidable. What should've been a fun, stylish return-to-form for the famous filmmaker gets clouded in a jumbled plot that's both too convoluted and formulaic for its own good, and a promising woman-led action-adventure now gets overshadowed by unfortunate circumstances outside the cinema.

Not to step on the tail of the elephant in the room, but if you haven't heard about Anna or seen any marketing for the movie, there might be a reason why. While this new movie was being made, Luc Beeson was hit with sexual assault allegations that have put the filmmaker's movie-making future in jeopardy . There is an argument to be made that one should separate the art from the artist, but I often find that if the art invokes the controversy, then it's basically impossible to split the two apart. Unfortunately, while Anna doesn't directly tie into any of the allegations made against Besson (allegations that were dismissed in a Parisian court due to a lack of evidence), it's also hard to get invested in this story of empowerment and vengeance with this thought looming in your mind.

There's no doubt that Luc Besson's skills as an action director can be seen throughout the film. Anna 's use of long takes and sharp sound effects, mixed with confident cinematography and memorable set pieces, do showcase an experienced director working in a genre that has been successful for him in the past. But these action beats can often be few-and-far between, and the crux of the story is given the real-life context that makes it hard for viewers like me to separate fiction from reality. For some folks, this might be easy. But even if that's the case, Anna 's intentionally jumbled, overly intricate, complex story does impact its success beyond its real-life circumstances. This script feels haphazard in how it jumps around; while there are a few instances of it working out in the film's favor, there are even more instances where this structure results in a needlessly frustrating experience.

That said, Anna 's best component is undoubtedly its lead actress, newcomer Sasha Luss. She displays a cool confidence mixed with a tender vulnerability that makes the character both commanding and humane. It's clear this movie was meant to be her big break, and it's a shame that the controversies surrounding the director will likely prevent that from happening in the near future. You can believe that kicking ass and making people meet their maker is second nature to her, while the actress' early history as a professional model does inform some enjoyable bits of satire about the modeling industry. In fact, as weird as it might be to say, I kinda wanted to see more of the world of modeling in this movie about deathly assassins.

Anna 's wildly over-the-top, yet equally revealing and keenly-realized, perspective in this often-lavished profession gives Anna an unexpected rejuvenation in key moments that's keeps things fresh and lively, even among a splattering of high-octave deaths. In fact, one of the film's high points is a montage near the middle of the film that splices footage between modeling shoots and Anna shooting her opponents. Is it subtle? Absolutely not. Is it fun? During this particular sequence, very much so. It makes you wonder what Anna could've been if this premise were given to another director.

It's often evident that Anna is Luc Besson hoping to harken back to the sensational success of one of his earliest, most career-cementing movies: the aforementioned La Femme Nikita . Hell, Anna even takes place in 1990, the same year Nikita was released. It's a smart business play, and if it weren't for the controversies, maybe this attempt by Luc Besson to return to his former glory might've been successful — at least, financially. Alas, it is clear that while Besson is more experienced as a filmmaker and still able to craft some well-executed action sequences to sprinkle throughout a film, this genre return feels more like a retread than a complete rejuvenation. It has a couple sharp sparkles, but it doesn't quite strike the same high fire.

As someone who got a kick out of Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets , it was often apparent that Luc Beeson was retracing his steps from 1997's The Fifth Element . Similarly, Anna is clearly Luc Beeson trying to return to that premiere '90s glory. But the world is changing, and it does not look like Beeson is expanding himself in any particular way as a filmmaker these days. There are a couple other elements that stand out here — most notably, Helen Mirren providing a fun, splashy supporting turn that fits the general vibe of this action romp well. It's not quite a dud. It's simply a lackluster effort from a veteran filmmaker whom we'll likely hear less and less from in the next few years — despite the early promise of his lead star.

Will is an entertainment writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. His writing can also be found in The Playlist, Cut Print Film, We Got This Covered, The Young Folks, Slate and other outlets. He also co-hosts the weekly film/TV podcast Cinemaholics with Jon Negroni and he likes to think he's a professional Garfield enthusiast.

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Movie Review: Anna (2019)

• Aaron Leggo
• Movie Reviews
• --> August 29, 2019

Life is difficult and complicated in Dekel Berenson’s intimate short Anna , about a titular single mother (Svetlana Barandich) who longs to provide a better life for herself and her teenage daughter Alina (Anastasia Vyazovskaya). In their little Ukrainian village, Anna works at a meat-processing plant, wiling away the hours and returning home to find her daughter fighting for her own freedom and independence.

It’s a sad situation and a dreary existence, so when Anna overhears a radio ad about an organized event in which wealthy foreign men want to meet local women, she interprets the opportunity as her ticket to a new and better life. But over the course of that one evening, her glimmer of hope will be snuffed out as she comes to terms with the reality of what these men really want.

That’s Berenson’s movie in a nutshell. Consisting of just a few short scenes and a handful of camera setups, this is very lean storytelling filtered through fly-on-the-wall filmmaking. The dreariness is palpable at all times, if it’s in the grim plant where Anna works or the dimly lit space where the matchmaking event occurs. Barandich’s performance gives Anna a delicate hint of hope that she conveys with an innocent, naïve smile.

Despite Anna’s apparent optimism, it’s extremely easy to predict that things will not go according to plan for our protagonist. The mood is oppressive from the start and Berenson makes no attempt to hide that we’re in miserabilist territory here. If there’s any surprise at all, it’s that the ending isn’t any louder or more dramatic than it actually is.

Berenson has certainly taken the quiet route with Anna and that works more in the movie’s favor than against it. There’s also a subtle sliver of absurdity lurking in the shadows, which adds to the movie’s effect even though it’s honestly difficult to tell if it’s there on purpose or not.

Ultimately, the exiting emotion is a gloomy one. This is a sad tale about the plight of a mother and her misplaced faith in chivalry. Berenson doesn’t delve any deeper than that and the movie feels pretty familiar in its morose messaging, but the strict style and tiny glimpse of eccentricities within leave a curious impression that makes Anna’s story worth telling.

Tagged: dating , relationship , Ukraine , woman

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Anna (2019) Review

A VERY FAMILIAR (AND RECYCLED)

Female assassin thriller.

Nowadays, spy movies are a dime of dozen; enticing viewers into a cinematic tale of a secretive covert world of spies, espionage, and political intrigue. Of course, the James Bond franchise instantly come to a person’s mind as the prime example, but there have been others, including the Mission Impossible franchise and the Jack Ryan series as well as other “one and done” endeavors like Salt, The Good Shepherd , and the Red Sparrow just to name a few. Now, Summit Entertainment and director Luc Besson present the latest spy motion picture with the film Anna. Does the movie stand out and rise to occasion of its political espionage aspects or is it a lifeless dud?

Living in Russia, Anna Poliatova (Sasha Luss) is a beautiful woman, but her current life is not; living with her boyfriend Petyr (Alexander Petrov) and trapped in horrible existence of living a destitute life of domestic abuse and no way of escape. In a turning point of her life, Anna gets an unexpected offer by KGB officer Alex Tchenkov (Luke Evans) by leading the young woman away from the horrors of her current predicament and molding her into a trained assassin for Russia’s secretive agency. With her natural beauty and combat training, Anna is shaped into a perfect weapon for the KGB use on operations, which is overseeing by Alex’s superior Olga (Helen Mirren) that pleases both their bosses, KGB General Vassiliev (Eric Godon). However, as her time with the KGB grows, Anna, who poses as fashion model for her covert, grows tired and weary of the excessive duties that she must perform, longing for the freedom that she was promised. During one particular mission, Anna comes across CIA operative Leonard Miller (Cillan Murphy), who becomes suspicious of the fashion model’s whereabouts and dealings; an action which would set in motion a series of events that poses a threat to Anna’s life, but also a way out for the freedom she desperately longs before.

THE GOOD / THE BAD

As I stated above, spy movies have become its own staple subgenre within the variety of theatrical feature films with a plethora of selective entries that utilizes the secretive world of spies and espionage narrative as well as interjecting various subgenres styles for a flavor. Like I said, the James Bond series is a perfect example of spy movies and some of my personal favorite (i.e. Moonraker , Goldeneye , Casino Royale , Skyfall , etc.), but there have been others that have followed close behind. Like I mentioned, the Mission Impossible series has been pretty good (following more in the lines of spy nuances and action bravado) as well as some of the comical parody spoof entries I’ve personally found quite entertaining like 2015’s Spy and 2008’s Get Smart . In contrast, there have been also “old school” slow burner spy thrillers out there like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (love the cast) to more historical period ones like Atomic Blonde to more contemporary beats like 2010’s Salt . I could go on and on about other movies, but you get my point. Suffice to say that spy movies have been indeed around for some time and (with the right filmmaking mechanics) can be quite entertaining through its cinematic narratives.

Anna is a 2019 film that offers up the latest spin on the subgenre of spy movies. To be quite honest, I really didn’t hear much about this movie (online, of course) that was until I saw the film’s movie trailer a few months prior to the feature’s release. Personally, I was intrigued to see it as it looked stylish and had plenty to offer (in terms of cinematic nuances), but I also had a feeling (in the back of my mind) that I’ve seeing this type of storytelling before….as if the movie was trying to emulate the same formula that has been done before. Still, the trailer for Anna looked more promising than warding me off, so I decided to give the movie a chance and saw during its opening weekend. What did I think of it? Well, it’s a mixture of good and bad as Anna is entertaining enough to entice viewers within its presentation, but fails with a choppy pacing and inconsistent / convoluted pacing and storytelling. It’s stylish and has intrigue, but lacks the special “it” factor in its substance and execution.

Anna is directed by Luc Besson, whose past directorial works includes such movies like Leon: The Professional , The Fifth Element , and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets . Given his wide range of various films projects (i.e. action thrillers, animated features, and sci-fi epics), Besson has certainly done a variety of feature film projects with some better than others. In approaching Anna , Besson takes a stab at the political spy / espionage, which certainly does a certain amount of charm and entertainment value that the director brings to the proceedings….in a way inherit way. Basically, if you love a spy drama motion picture, you’ll definitely will find something about Anna to your liking. Much like his work on La Femme Nikita , Besson (whether intentionally or unintentionally) draws a similar inspiration to directing Anna by having the lead character (i.e. a female) prove that she’s capable of handling herself in many sticky situations as well as being a badass. Thus, story of the film begins to take shape, with Besson pulling double duty as the film’s screenplay writer. There’s a lot of common tropes to be found (more on that below), but what’s presented is interesting (to a certain degree) that allows the film to toy around with plenty of spy / espionage nuances that will pleases most viewers out there.

Anna’s presentation is actually pretty good. While it probably won’t win any type of awards during the award season, but the technical presentation of Besson’s movie holds its own. What do I mean? Well, the film itself definitely has a well-polished feel to it, with a glossy framing of the narrative, which shows the high style of life of wealth and fashion as well as the grim and dank corridors of Russia’s KGB’s headquarters. Additionally, since the movie takes place in Europe, there’s plenty of sight to see (in the background) for an international spy adventure, which is quite fun. Thus, several members of the “behind the scenes team” of Anna , including Thierry Arbogast (cinematography), Hugues Tissandier (production design), and Evelyne Tissandier (set decorations) do some fine work in bringing the movie’s various background settings to life. Another big highlight in its presentation is some of the costume wardrobe outfits for several of the film’s characters…. most notably a lot of the outfits for the character Anna. So, big kudos for costume designer Olivier Bériot . Also, the film’s score, which was done by Eric Serra is pretty good. Its nothing to rush out a buy the soundtrack for it, but it’s not enough to make the film’s sequences (be it action, dramatic moments, or just character dialogue scenes) resonate threw musical composition pieces.

Another problem with the film is that, despite the attempts in Besson’s direction, Anna just feels too generic and does lack a strong / wholesome narrative substance within its spy / espionage movie world. As stated in the opening paragraph, the whole spy / political espionage genre has been done and redone many times, with most usually finding a groove within the setting of US and Russia and the spy agents and governmental intrigue within these two superpower countries (i.e. reminiscing of the Cold War time era). To that effect, Anna certainly does feel like that (in that capacity), but Besson never truly takes “the dive” into making the feature go beyond the surface level stuff. So, there’s a lot of familiarities when seeing Anna. What do I mean? Well, there’s a little James Bond , a little Jason Bourne , and a little Salt , a little Red Sparrow (as well as a few others), which makes the feature feel generic within its own narrative and ends up drumming up clichés within the film genre than others have done. The story is there, but just not deep enough of what the movie could’ve been. Even more honest…. I was quite bored with the movie. The action scenes never really stood out at being memorable (vaguely reminded me of recycled fights of other features) and not a whole lot happens in the first half. Because of this, Anna only comes up with a few surprises, but most of them can be seeing come (if you pay attention). Plus, there’s a whole love triangle that Besson tries to drum up within the character of Anna (as well as female love interest for Anna as well), but most of it is rendered in a very moot point that the payoff for all of it is underwhelming and undercooked. Perhaps Besson’s “double duty” as director / story script writer comes into play. The end result is something that sounds good on paper, but lacks substance within its execution and in storytelling.  

Additionally, barring one main action sequence, the film’s movie trailer showcases a lot of the feature big highlight points, which rendered the viewing of the film a bit underwhelming as I saw a lot of these important snippets of Anna within its marketing preview. That’s disappointing.

The cast in Anna is actually fairly good, with the main roster of characters being of recognizable faces from other film projects. At the head of the pack is actress Sasha Luss, who plays the film’s titular main lead of Anna Poliatova. Mostly known for her modeling career, Luss has also performed in Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (in a supporting role as Princess Lïhio-Minaa), which was probably one of the reasons why she got the part (or at least front running position for the role of Anna). Surprisingly, despite not having hefty career background in acting, Luss does turn a fine performance in the film’s title character. She’s definitely easy on the eyes and all the various costume wardrobe outfits look great on her (again, the costume designs in the film are great), but she certainly gives the character of Anna a certain type of depth and enough sympathy to make us (the viewers) root for her in her journey of being a cover assassin in a game of political powerplays and maneuvers. The character isn’t exactly new or original, but Luss’s performance sort of elevates those criticisms (or it can be overlooked) to make her portrayal of Anna in a favorable light throughout the movie.

In larger supporting roles are the film’s three “big names” acting talents of the movie, with actors Cillan Murphy and Luke Evans and actress Helen Mirren playing pivotal supporting roles that make up Anna’s challenges of mentor / lover interest figures in the movie. Murphy, known for his roles in Batman Begins , Inception , and Peaky Blinders , is fine in the role of CIA operative agent Leonard Miller, who takes a close interest in Anna’s activities, while Evans, known for his roles in Fast and the Furious 6 , Beauty and the Beast , and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies , is suitable in the role of Alex Tchenkov, an member of the KGB who takes Anna under his wing to train as an assassin for Russia. Likewise, Mirren, known for her roles in The Queen , Gosford Park , and RED , is amusing as Olga, a member of the KGB (Alex Tchenkov’s superior) who takes an interest in Anna’s unique talents. Collectively, these three roles are all played by fine acting talents, which do make the characters interesting, but to be quite honest…. none of them will be remembered for their roles in this movie, for the character themselves aren’t quite compelling as they could’ve been; acting as commonplace spy / espionage tropes clichés of either a American CIA operative lead man or official ranking members of Russia’s KGB organization. Lastly, much like what I said above, the character Maud (Anna’s female love interest), who is played by actress Lera Abova (making her acting debut with the movie) seems poised to be an interesting subplot of a minor character. However, despites Abova’s portrayal of the character, which is pretty good, doesn’t really mean much to the film’s main plotline and actually sort of gets lost within the story being told. And that’s disappointing.

Rounding out the cast are several minor characters, including actor Andrew Howard ( The Outpost and Watchmen ) as Oleg, actor Eric Godon ( In Bruges and The Missing ) as KGB General Vassiliev, actor Alexander Petrov ( Attraction and Ice ) as Anna’s cruel / former boyfriend Piotr, and actor Nikita Pavlenko ( Elastiko and Pyatnitsa ) as Vlad. These characters, though played by fine acting talents, are, more or less, servants to the plot in Anna ; offering up problems placement in the narrative progression.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Prove her worthy to the KGB and her chance of freedom, Anna becomes a deadly assassin, but finds out that she’s has to play this dangerous game of lies, deceit, and espionage with her superiors and in others in the movie Anna . Director Luc Besson latest feature takes another stab into the espionage / spy genre, providing an intriguing story of a young woman, who gets swept up and entangled in agendas and missions for her country’s secretive interests. While the technical presentation is quite good (costumes and wardrobe) and the acting talents featured in the movie are welcomed and fun, the film lacks a firm conviction within its own narrative context by producing a derivate story, a convoluted plot / execution, a choppy film progression, and some confusing elements throughout. Personally, I thought that this movie was just okay. It held my interest throughout its runtime, but just felt generic at certain points, confusing / repetitive in others, and lacking substance within its characters / storytelling. It’s not exactly a disaster of a movie, but neither is it to be considered a good one. Thus, my recommendation for the movie is a combination of a “Rent It / Skip it” as some might find the movie to their liking, but it’s best to see it when it comes on home release (or when it comes to TV) later on. Everyone else, however, won’t find it enough interesting to differentiate itself from other espionage spy endeavors. In the end, Anna is flashy and holds some entertainment value, but is a generic spy feature that has more of a glossy finish than well-rounded substance.

2.9 Out of 5 (Rent It / Skip It)

Released on: june 21st, 2019, reviewed on: july 13th, 2019.

Anna  is 119 minutes long and is rated R for strong violence, language, and some sexual content

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It’s funny you mention “familiar” right off the bat because that’s exactly the vibe I was getting. That’s a big reason I put it on my ‘rent it’ list.

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Anna review – Luc Besson's empty assassin thriller shoots blanks

A vacuous performance from model Sasha Luss sinks the director’s attempt to add a modern spin on his 1990 thriller La Femme Nikita

W ho or what is Anna? Answers include a reminder of director Luc Besson’s action movie credentials, an attempt to start a female-fronted assassin franchise and a showcase for the acting talents of model Sasha Luss. Or at least that’s what could be said of the film, sight unseen. Because in actuality, the delayed, and rather dumped thriller (distributor Lionsgate refused to screen the film for press) is an unqualified failure on all three counts, a wide-releasing multiplex dweller that instead works best as an undemanding late-night TV watch, exactly where it should have been offloaded in the first place.

After Besson scored a surprise global hit with the rather barmy Scarlett Johansson actioner Lucy, he used his increased sway to get the even barmier Valerian made, an audacious and expensive misfire that at the very least showcased his untamed creative spark. But Besson’s gonzo excesses didn’t attract a wide enough audience and everything about his follow-up feels like a director settling back into a safe groove. Anna is not quite pedestrian but it never really feels like the work of someone with anything to say or prove. It’s competent and even complacent at times, a million miles from what one would expect from the director of The Fifth Element.

In a plot that feels patchworked together from better films, Anna (Luss) is a woman in need of a chance. In 80s Moscow, there aren’t that many available to her and while trying to strike out on her own, the patriarchal society she’s trapped in forces her into a life of submission. But one day she gets given an opportunity to work for the KGB and after being reluctantly taken under the wing of sour, ruthless handler Olga (Helen Mirren) she finds herself to be a surprisingly ruthless assassin while moonlighting as a model because of course. But after years of servitude, Anna starts to worry that a life spent taking other lives might not be what she really wants.

Revisiting his 1990 calling card La Femme Nikita, Besson has managed something quite astonishing in that he has somehow made Anna even worse than that film’s much-loathed Hollywood remake, 1993’s Point of No Return. In the almost 30 years since his original hit, we have seen a string of films focused on female assassins (although still not nearly as many as those starring men) yet Anna seems to exist in a world where these films don’t exist. For so much of the film, Besson rests on the “shock” appeal of showing a beautiful blonde woman being able to kill just as ruthlessly and as violently as any man, as if we’re new to the concept and as if that’s enough to add sheen to a tired, familiar plot.

Besson sees Anna as a star vehicle for Russian model Luss, who he used as an alien in Valerian, and as rote as the script might be, one can still imagine what the right choice of actor might have brought to the material. The similarly themed Atomic Blonde and Red Sparrow were both deeply flawed, but Charlize Theron and Jennifer Lawrence elevated them effortlessly, both bringing old-fashioned star presence to projects that didn’t deserve them. Luss appears in virtually every scene of Anna, and in not a single one of them does she prove worthy of such a task. She’s a black hole at the centre of the film, her performance so sedate and lifeless that it sucks all the energy right out of a thriller that should be jacked up with adrenaline. As her duelling love interests, Cillian Murphy (Irish but playing American) and Luke Evans (Welsh but playing Russian but sounding Scottish) struggle to rise above the dross they signed up to which leaves it up to Mirren to have some campy fun as a heartless anti-matriarch figure, spouting lines like “Trouble never sends a warning!” and having more fun than anyone else in the film or the audience.

There’s ample room for commentary on the journey a woman trying to rise up in a man’s world, especially given the setting, but bar a few throwaway lines, this is business as usual. Luss is still a fetishised object, especially as she engages in a rather pointless romantic relationship with a fellow female model, and at times the film plays like a softcore porno just with the sex scenes cut short. It’s not empowering by itself to show a woman with a gun, especially when she’s wearing such little clothing, and the film does at times play uneasily given the accusations of sexual misconduct levelled at Besson, something that led to its many delays (the director denies “reprehensible behavior of any kind”).

What ultimately sinks the film is its overwhelming blandness, from the lack of creativity employed in Anna’s many kills to Besson’s inability to choreograph a pulse-racing action scene, and the script’s belaboured attempts to jump back and forward in time to wrongfoot us only highlight how little it brings to the table. Gimmickry can’t mask vapidity, and in finally answering who or what Anna is, the answer would be that you really never need to find out.

Anna is out now in the US and in the UK on 5 July

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Movie Review – Anna (2019)

July 1, 2019 by Caillou Pettis

Anna , 2019.

Directed by Luc Besson Starring Sasha Luss, Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy, Helen Mirren.

Beneath Anna Poliatova’s striking beauty lies a secret that will unleash her indelible strength and skill to become one of the world’s most feared government assassins.

There was a surprising lack of marketing behind Luc Besson’s latest film  Anna , which is puzzling considering that it boasts a remarkably talented cast with the likes of Luke Evans, Cillian Murphy, and Helen Mirren just to name a few. It is also distributed by Summit Entertainment, a division of Lionsgate, yet there was next to nothing for promotional material. But after seeing the final film, it is clear as to why trailers and television advertisements were kept to a minimum.

One of the many issues here is Besson’s direction, as it is clear that he himself was unsure of what the film should be. There are many times where the story just does not make a lot of sense at all, and it is hard to follow largely in part to its extremely confusing tone. One second, it wants to be a straight forward silly action flick with tons of gun fire at play, but the next it seemingly becomes dreary and dramatic. It would have been much better if it knew what it was and went for it – an over-the-top popcorn movie and that’s it.

Speaking of the action sequences, they are enjoyable for the most part, but while watching them, it is hard not to compare the scenes to other action movies that do it significantly better. There are quite a few moments with our lead protagonist going around and causing mayhem, which can be enjoyable, but it never quite reaches its full potential.

If there is one thing to praise here, it is most certainly Sasha Luss who actually does a pretty decent job as the titular character. She has only been in one motion picture before this, that being 2017’s  Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets , and it is really impressive how good she is here. She has to sell a large number of scenes and she does so almost effortlessly. It is kind of frustrating that her character is practically invincible though. Many times throughout the course of the film, she should have gotten hurt majorly, but instead she manages to be perfect during every confrontation.

In addition, the rest of the cast do a good job with the material that they are given, including Evans and Mirren. It is unfortunate however that they do not get that much to do here to truly showcase their acting talents. Even still, they deserve a better film to show this anyway.

Luc Besson’s  Anna  is dull and lifeless with a tonally inconsistent script, lazy direction, and is unsure of what type of film it wants to be.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★

Caillou Pettis is an enthusiastic film lover and has been one since his youth. You can follow him on Twitter at  @CaillouPettis  and can contact him by email at [email protected].

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• Melanie Lynskey's role in The Tattooist of Auschwitz adds to her successful career in television, earning critical acclaim for her role as Heather Morris.
• Lynskey's impressive trend in TV shows continues with her work in The Tattooist of Auschwitz , with the series receiving praise for its casting and the depiction of the Holocaust.
• The role of Heather Morris is the fourth real-life character Melanie Lynskey has portrayed in her career.

Peacock's The Tattooist of Auschwitz has proven to be another success in Melanie Lynskey's acting career. Adapted from the 2018 novel of the same name by Heather Morris , the series looks at the life of Lali Solokov , a Slovakian Jew who was imprisoned in the Auschwitz death camp during World War II; during his imprisonment, he is forced to work at Auschwitz, tattooing each new prisoner with a number. During his time in the camp, Lali encounters a young woman named Gita, and they soon fall in love; the series depicts their struggles to survive, the endurance of their relationship, and what happens to them after the war.

In The Tattooist of Auschwitz , Melanie Lynskey plays the role of Heather Morris, the original novel's author. Throughout the series, Morris is depicted talking to Lali Solokov and learning about his Holocaust experiences. The series was praised for its casting , soundtrack, and harrowing depictions of the Holocaust; the success of the series has allowed an impressive trend across Lynskey's career to continue.

From Heavenly Creatures to Yellowjackets, the hugely talented New Zealand star Melanie Lynskey has appeared in a number of great movies and TV shows.

The Tattooist Of Auschwitz Continues Melanie Lynskey's TV Show Hot Streak On Rotten Tomatoes

Her work in tv shows has achieved high ratings since 2003.

Lynskey's highest-rated shows include the miniseries Mrs. America , HBO's The Last of Us, where she plays the recurring role of Kathleen, and the thriller drama series Yellowjackets , where she has received several Emmy nominations for her role as Shauna.

Since 2003, Melanie Lynskey has starred in shows that have achieved "Fresh" ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. Lynskey's highest-rated shows include the miniseries Mrs. America , HBO's The Last of Us, where she plays the recurring role of Kathleen , and the thriller drama series Yellowjackets , where she has received several Emmy nominations for her role as Shauna . The Tattooist of Auschwitz has also achieved a "Fresh" rating on the site, extending Lynskey's impressive 20-year streak of starring in shows that have achieved high ratings (via Rotten Tomatoes ).

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the only TV show that Melanie Lynskey has acted in that did not receive a "Fresh" rating was HouseBroken , where she had a guest role in 2023. However, compared to her other TV roles, HouseBroken is her only animated show and has a higher audience score on the site than critics'. Despite this animation's low rating, Lynskey's roles in live-action shows have remained consistently high since 2003 and the ratings of The Tattooist of Auschwitz have allowed this trend to continue.

Yellowjackets has produced several new fans of Melanie Lynskey. However, she has also been in dozens of films like Sadie and Shattered Glass.

The Tattooist Of Auschwitz Is Not Melanie Lynskey's First Time Portraying A Real Person

She has had previous experience in movies & tv shows portraying real people.

Lynskey's prior experience playing real people proved she was the right choice to play author Heather Morris in The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the series proved to be another success in her acclaimed television career.

In The Tattooist Of Auschwitz , Melanie Lynskey portrays author Heather Morris, who interviews Lale Sokolov about his experiences during the war. This is not the first time Lynskey has portrayed a real person in her career; she made her acting debut in 1994, in Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures , where she played teenage murderess Pauline Parker. In 2020, she portrayed activist Rosemary Thomson in the FX miniseries Mrs. America. In 2022, she played the role of murder victim Betty Gore in the Hulu miniseries Candy , alongside Jessica Biel.

Lynskey has received high praise for her portrayals of real people. In 1995, she won the New Zealand Film and Television Award for Best Actress for her performance in Heavenly Creatures and received several nominations for her role in Candy . Lynskey's prior experience playing real people proved she was the right choice to play author Heather Morris in The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and the series proved to be another success in her acclaimed television career.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

All episodes of The Tattooist of Auschwitz are available for streaming on Peacock.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

• The Tattooist of Auschwitz (2024)

25 Rom-Coms Audiences Loved But Critics Hated

Posted: May 10, 2024 | Last updated: May 10, 2024

In 1964 when Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart was asked to judge whether or not "Les Amants" ("The Lovers"), a film by French director Louis Malle, was obscene, he acknowledged that defining obscenity was difficult, but added "I know it when I see it." (And he didn't see it in "Les Amants.")

Humor is a lot like obscenity in that regard. Is a particular joke, comedy routine, comic strip, or comedic movie funny or not? Its ability to provoke laughter might be difficult to explicate, but each one of us knows whether it is or isn't funny — to us — when we see (or hear) it.

Needless to say, not everybody finds the same things amusing. When stand-ups cross the line with a "too soon" joke, some people laugh while others turn away in disgust. When old-fashioned slapstick hits the screen, it sends some people into hysterics while leaving others cold. (Somebody once proposed that the difference between men and women was that men find the Three Stooges funny — itself a pretty funny observation. Or maybe not.) And there are even apparently people who don't see the humor in "Seinfeld" or "The Simpsons." (These are the very best sitcoms of all time .)

When boy-girl (or boy-boy or girl-girl) relationships are given a light, theoretically amusing touch — as in romantic comedies, or rom-coms — individual perceptions get even more complex, because they depend not only on whether we find the concept or the jokes funny but also whether we think the couple in question has believable personal magnetism.

Because professional movie critics tend to be more, well, critical about rom-coms (among other kinds of films), they are sometimes left unimpressed by the supposedly funny stuff and/or don't buy into the mutual attraction supposedly portrayed onscreen. Audiences, however, are usually more forgiving and may end up liking motion pictures of this kind more than those who get paid to assess them.

To determine the romantic comedies audiences loved but critics hated, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data on audience and critic reception from Rotten Tomatoes . Romantic comedies were ranked based on the difference between a film's Tomatometer score — the percentage of professional critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes that are positive — and average audience score. Only films with at least five critics reviews were considered. Films with audience scores below 70% and Tomatometer scores above 50% were excluded. Cast information is from IMDb .

The films here range over a 65-year period, from 1954's "The Long, Long Trailer" (starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz) to a couple from 2019, "Jexi" and "Last Christmas." Are these or any of the other entries on this list funny? See them and you'll know.

25. French Kiss (1995)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 74% (54,961 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 48% (25 reviews)
• Starring: Meg Ryan, Kevin Kline, Timothy Hutton

24. Just Friends (2005)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 71% (420,616 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 42% (109 reviews)
• Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris

23. Love & Sex (2000)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 76% (7,510 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 47% (49 reviews)
• Starring: Famke Janssen, Jon Favreau, Noah Emmerich

22. Overboard (1987)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 74% (68,349 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 44% (34 reviews)
• Starring: Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Edward Herrmann

21. The Holiday (2006)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 80% (507,808 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 49% (158 reviews)
• Starring: Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law

20. Deliver Us from Eva (2003)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 76% (20,011 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 44% (82 reviews)
• Starring: Gabrielle Union, LL Cool J, Essence Atkins

19. Made in Heaven (1987)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (3,890 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 50% (12 reviews)
• Starring: Timothy Hutton, Kelly McGillis, Maureen Stapleton

18. The Long, Long Trailer (1954)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (4,753 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 44% (9 reviews)
• Starring: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Marjorie Main

17. Last Christmas (2019)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81% (6,408 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 47% (208 reviews)
• Starring: Madison Ingoldsby, Emma Thompson, Boris Isakovic

16. Sydney White (2007)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 70% (789,566 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 35% (85 reviews)
• Starring: Amanda Bynes, Sara Paxton, Matt Long

15. American Desi (2001)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73% (3,023 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 38% (13 reviews)
• Starring: Deep Katdare, Ronobir Lahiri, Purva Bedi

14. How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days (2003)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (802,354 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 42% (150 reviews)
• Starring: Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, Adam Goldberg

13. She's the Man (2006)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 79% (607,681 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 44% (114 reviews)
• Starring: Amanda Bynes, Laura Ramsey, Channing Tatum

12. A Lot Like Love (2005)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (76,776 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 41% (125 reviews)
• Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Amanda Peet, Taryn Manning

11. Creator (1985)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 76% (1,488 votes)
• Starring: Peter O'Toole, Mariel Hemingway, Vincent Spano

10. Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 77% (43,504 votes)
• Starring: Biff Yeager, Kristi Somers, Richard Blade

9. The Other Sister (1999)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 71% (49,412 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 29% (49 reviews)
• Starring: Juliette Lewis, Diane Keaton, Giovanni Ribisi

8. Two Can Play That Game (2001)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 83% (34,139 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 41% (63 reviews)
• Starring: Vivica A. Fox, Morris Chestnut, Anthony Anderson

7. Same Time, Next Year (1978)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 85% (4,446 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 40% (5 reviews)
• Starring: Alan Alda, Ellen Burstyn, Ivan Bonar

6. Sprung (1997)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 73% (1,317 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 22% (9 reviews)
• Starring: Tisha Campbell, Rusty Cundieff, Paula Jai Parker

5. Jexi (2019)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 71% (1,336 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 19% (32 reviews)
• Starring: Adam Devine, Alexandra Shipp, Rose Byrne

4. Daddy's Little Girls (2007)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 81% (225,961 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 26% (54 reviews)
• Starring: Gabrielle Union, Idris Elba, Tracee Ellis Ross

3. P.S. I Love You (2007)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 80% (254,242 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 25% (104 reviews)
• Starring: Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Harry Connick Jr.

2. A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 76% (14,709 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 12% (26 reviews)
• Starring: Martin Lawrence, Lynn Whitfield, Regina King

1. American Dreamer (1984)

• Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 82% (3,345 votes)
• Rotten Tomatoes critics score: 17% (6 reviews)
• Starring: JoBeth Williams, Tom Conti, Giancarlo Giannini

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Spider-Man Star's New Horror Movie Delivers Terrifyingly Low Rotten Tomatoes Score

MCU star Jacob Batalon has seen his recent success come crashing down with his new horror movie Tarot's terrible run of reviews.

• Jacob Batalon's new horror movie Tarot failed to impress critics with an abysmal 8% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
• The plot of Tarot revolves around a group of friends who face death after meddling with tarot readings, leading to a race against fate.
• Despite Tarot 's disappointing performance, Batalon's previous success in Reginald the Vampire suggests this could be just a minor setback.

Spider-Man star Jacob Batalon ’s new horror movie Tarot has failed to capitalize on the actor’s previous strong run of reviews, and has instead landed the actor his lowest scoring movie with an unspeakable 8% approval score on Rotten Tomatoes . Coming off the success of the MCU’s Spider-Man franchise, as his series Reginald the Vampire , Tarot’s failure to gain much praise at all is a harsh reminder of how easy it can be to go from hero to zero in the movie game.

Tarot is a standard horror movie with a premise as old as the spirits that frequently haunt many such horror films. The synopsis reads:

“When a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings, they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards. One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death.”

Tarot (2024)

The plot centers on a group of college friends who start dying in ways that are related to their fortunes after having their tarot cards read. Before their time runs out, they have to work together to uncover the mystery.

Starring alongside Batalon are Olwen Fouéré, Avantika, Harriet Slater, and Humberly Gonzalez. There are no individual performances pulled out by critics for praise, and while none are particularly called out for being a problem of the film, it seems that all the reviews agree that there is very little merit to be found in the movie’s premise or execution, leading to its incredibly low approval rating.

Audiences have been a little more accommodating with their appraisals of the movie, giving it a 48% score. However, there are very few reviews that sit in the middle of the road, instead choosing to call it a great horror film or one of the worst movies of the year.

Tarot Could Be Just a Misstep for Jacob Batalon

Coming from the highs of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is always a scary prospect for actors to spread their wings elsewhere in the world of movies and television – just ask Robert Downey Jr. However, Jacob Batalon has already managed to land a reasonably successful project with the comedy horror TV series Reginald the Vampire , which is what makes Tarot’s failure seem even more disappointing.

Reginald the Vampire is based on Johnny B. Truant’s Fat Vampire novels and originally debuted on Syfy in 2022. Starring Batalon as an unconventional vampire called, unsurprisingly, Reginald, the show was renewed for Season 2 in January 2023, with filming commencing a few months later. The second season is now set to premiere on May 8 on Syfy. The first season scored a healthy 70% approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics, and seemed to be setting up Batalon for a successful post-MCU career.

Jacob Batalon's 7 Best Performances, Ranked

Now with Tarot not exactly following up Batalon’s other successful projects, the actor may be looking to get back into the MCU sooner rather than later. Previously, Batalon suggested that he really hopes that his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is not over just yet. He said of his potential return as Ned in Spider-Man 4 :

"I honestly don't know. I don't know what any future holds for any of them in that world. I just feel like if things happen, they happen. I hope so. I definitely hope so."

Tarot has still seen a strong start at the box office, projecting $6.25 million domestically this weekend and a No.4 position.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

When a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings, they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards. One by one, they come face to fac... Read all When a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings, they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards. One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death. When a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings, they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards. One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death.

• Spenser Cohen
• Anna Halberg
• Nicholas Adams
• Jacob Batalon
• Olwen Fouéré
• 87 User reviews
• 43 Critic reviews
• 34 Metascore

• The Countess

• The Hermit …

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia The title card appears nearly 17 minutes into the run-time.

Voices : Welcome to the circle. One more at the heart. With this final card, your meeting will start. Follow one rule to stay out of danger. You're never to deal with the deck of a stranger. The Hermit. Magician. High Priestess or Death? Whose face will you see, when you take your last breath?

• Connections Featured in The Project: Episode dated 3 May 2024 (2024)

User reviews 87

• May 10, 2024

New and Upcoming Horror

• When was Tarot released? Powered by Alexa
• May 3, 2024 (United States)
• United States
• Official Site
• Horrorscope
• Belgrade, Serbia
• Screen Gems
• Alloy Entertainment
• Capstone Pictures
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $8,250,000 (estimated)
• May 5, 2024
• $12,321,298

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 32 minutes

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