Velvet Buzzsaw

Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): February 1, 2019

5.6	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 173 Ratings

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User Reviews

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qb1qnobiFeb 14, 2019

The movie was incredibly slow paced and boring. The acting was good, but the execution of the plot was painful.

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

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BHBarryFeb 13, 2019

“Velvet Buzzsaw” stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo. Written and directed by Dan
Gilroy, this is a film that just can’t make up its mind nor can some of the characters in
it. Mr. Gyllenhaal’s character struts throughout the film as a“Velvet Buzzsaw” stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo. Written and directed by Dan
Gilroy, this is a film that just can’t make up its mind nor can some of the characters in
it. Mr. Gyllenhaal’s character struts throughout the film as a homosexual art dealer
but all of the sex scenes are between him and other women. Likewise, the film itself purports
to be a satire on the art scene yet it also tries to be a horror film never fully or committing
under either label. Currently being exhibited on both Netflix and in local theaters,
the film doesn’t deserve tp be seen in either venue. I give the film a 1.0 ratingar and suggest
that a blank tv or movie screen will be more entertaining than this poor attempt at
entertainment… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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cornbreadFeb 23, 2019

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This movie had so much potential. I saw the trailer and was immediately drawn to the core premise: old man dies, no one knows him, turns out he’s a prolific master painter...but oh wait he uses blood as pigment. Now that is wonderfully disturbing.

They could have run with that and really dug into this man. Where did he get the blood? Was he a prolific serial killer? Did he leave a trail of murder behind him?

Instead they resorted to a lame supernatural angle. Turns out this dead old guy kills you The Ring style (and a poor interpretation at best) if you own his art. You don’t even get a creepy phone call telling you that you have 7 days.

It’s almost as if the film doesn’t trust the audience to be mature enough to find the “reality” of the situation as interesting and compelling as some fake supernatural crap.

Such a let down. Now I just crave someone doing this core plot somenactual justice!… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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GrantD243Feb 12, 2019

Velvet Buzzsaw starts out as an intriguing indie-like film, and then it devolves into a psychological horror film that is worse than most low budget Blumhouse projects. Jake Gyllenhaal gives a decent performance (for what he has to workVelvet Buzzsaw starts out as an intriguing indie-like film, and then it devolves into a psychological horror film that is worse than most low budget Blumhouse projects. Jake Gyllenhaal gives a decent performance (for what he has to work with), but nearly everything else just continuously gets worse and worse as the film drags on. One of the worst films I've watched in a long time.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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garmonboziaFeb 2, 2019

A superficial satire on the art world with lots of cartoonish characters. It's really basic, shallow and a bit boring in its attempt to tell something about art market (???) It fails on so many levels. It isn't entertaining, it isn't visuallyA superficial satire on the art world with lots of cartoonish characters. It's really basic, shallow and a bit boring in its attempt to tell something about art market (???) It fails on so many levels. It isn't entertaining, it isn't visually stimulating enough (the only beautiful takes that don't look cheesy are those few Los Angeles landscapes) and it lacks in atmosphere. The killings looked kitschy to almost laughable level - especially those dripping paintings that start to colour one of the victims. The movie looks like some modern version of X-files episode (only without FBI agents). It looks very TV. A TV movie. It has no power to stuck in your mind as something interesting and worth watching again.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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EludiumQ36Feb 7, 2019

Velvet Buzzsaw starts off deliciously pretentious and ostentatious. Then, its slow pacing sets in which may turn you off, in fact, I almost quit it 1/2 hr into it because one can only take so much deliberate pretention. About 45min in,Velvet Buzzsaw starts off deliciously pretentious and ostentatious. Then, its slow pacing sets in which may turn you off, in fact, I almost quit it 1/2 hr into it because one can only take so much deliberate pretention. About 45min in, there's the first supernatural incident but it's so lame in that's it's totally unmotivated, just happening out of nowhere. Then 15mins later another supernatural-caused death, also unmotivated and happens out of nowhere. Finally, 15 mins later another which is just so B-movie horror-ible that I'm out at that point, this no longer makes rational sense. Even the starshine of Jake Gill&Hall with has-been Renee SoSo can't salvage this.… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

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KenmeiFeb 3, 2019

This was a boring slog through a movie that's both very self-aware but also wants you to take itself very seriously. Velvet Buzzsaw fails at being both a Horror movie or a major critique of the world of Art itself. The biggest thing I feltThis was a boring slog through a movie that's both very self-aware but also wants you to take itself very seriously. Velvet Buzzsaw fails at being both a Horror movie or a major critique of the world of Art itself. The biggest thing I felt was the problem though was that the movie never really grabbed hold of what it was supposed to be and went with it. The story itself is absolutely terrible. The "horror" aspects of the film are so poorly explained and flimsy they actually had to write in a scene halfway through the movie where Gyllenhaal has to explain what, exactly, the characters should be terrified of, point by point. The scene comes out of nowhere with barely any exploration of what is truly going on and his character has just suddenly "done the research" off camera and knows what is happening. The fact that all of these characters are extremely unlikeable almost made me want to root for the monster or being or whatever that was killing them. The other half of the movie is, what I would guess since I have no knowledge of the art world, a brutal critique on how artists are handled and how one reviewer, in this case Jake Gyllenhaal, can make or break their career so be careful not to get on their bad side. The writers seemed more interested in seeing if they could fit every art buzzword they could possibly find into the script then actually making one that was coherent enough to really follow. Even the fairly recognizable cast couldn't prop up what is just a truly bad script. And even when the movie sets up a couple of different twists the plot could have gone down, they are completely forgotten or actually made into what kinda becomes a running joke. It feels like this was meant to be a straight up drama about the Art industry until, at the last minute, someone decided that would be boring so make it into a Horror movie! It feels unevenly mashed together, like a square peg in a round hole, and nothing ever seems to come off as even a remotely good idea here. I'd recommend skipping this. As a movie that tries to be a Horror movie and send a message, it does neither very good whatsoever.… Expand

2 of 5 users found this helpful23

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Dragonfly44Oct 23, 2020

As always, Jake Gyllenhaal is great, but this movie is just terrible. Nothing about it is interesting except how bad it is. 33/100

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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QjDApr 2, 2019

NETFLIX, you're killing me here!! Velvet BuzzKill, this movie is 1hr53mins long, nothing happens for the first 45mins, subsequently, another stretch before anything happened again. Maybe you have to be fond of art in order to get this movie.NETFLIX, you're killing me here!! Velvet BuzzKill, this movie is 1hr53mins long, nothing happens for the first 45mins, subsequently, another stretch before anything happened again. Maybe you have to be fond of art in order to get this movie. One of the most anticlimactic movies I've watched this year. Yes, they sell it well with the trailers and the cast, they get you all fired up for a good film and NOTHING.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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hnestlyontheslyOct 7, 2019

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Velvet Buzzsaw was Netflix’s third time pranking me into seeing an advertisement for their streaming service disguised as a movie suboptimal even as background noise for cleaning your kitchen or doing crossword puzzles (the first times being that **** of a sci-fi movie teased at the Superbowl last year, The Cloverfield Paradox, and more recently the Coen Brother’s cash crab of a made-for-tv Ballad of Buster Scruggs). I say this with full knowledge that I’ve only actually made it through the first hour ten, hour twenty of this film, because at that point Friend and I got a call that the baby was fussy and his colleague needed a relief pitcher, but even after four shots of whiskey, nothing about this yawn of a film did it for me.

Dan Gilroy, director of the lovely Nightcrawler (2014) also starring Jake Gyllenhaal, was able to pull one over on Netflix and possibly this Slate writer when she writes that the film “eventually develops a righteous, rousing kick” (maybe that happens in the last twenty minutes? we’ll never know). It’s genuinely kind of shocking that directors of this caliber working with the exact same actors and even larger budgets than they might for a movie that’s destined for the silver screen can turn out such garbage.

Please Birdbox this movie.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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latinodemierdaFeb 12, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Una película de terror donde los asesinos son obras de arte contemporáneo asesinando a desagradables y pretenciosos críticos de arte interpretados por actores como Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo o Toni Collete tenía mucho potencial, pero la película esta terriblemente mal manejada. Las pocas escenas de "terror" solo se disfrutan porque los personajes son tan asquerosos que es disfrutable verlos sufrir, pero la película aburre en su desarrollo, donde se expande demasiado en una historia sobre el mundo del arte siendo hipócrita y horrible. Se entiende que es una crítica al mercado del arte contemporáneo, a los críticos y al ban, pero entonces pierde su carga como pelicula de horror: el personaje de John Malkovich no va a ningún lado y al principio parecía importante, la película no sabe cómo manejar esta mezcla de terror y sátira al arte porque por momentos es uno y por momentos el otro, pero nunca logran fusionarse en uno solo en ningún momento de la película.

PD: la única parte que me entretuvo fue cuando relataban la muerte de Toni Collete… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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doebreiAug 20, 2022

Filmed well, didn't put me to sleep, but very boring. If you're going to be a bad movie, the least you could do is also be an interesting movie.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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