SXSW Movie Reviews: Violet
As the late-great rocker Tom Petty once sang, “the waiting is the hardest part”. These sweet and melodic lyrics perfectly sum up the SXSW selection Violet, a film that I was eager to catch following its 2020 acceptance into the festival. Yet, SXSW’s cancellation ruined those plans but, surprisingly, the former Family Ties star and writer-director, Justine Bateman, kept the film shelved for over a year in order to premiere during the festival’s 2021 return. Selected in the Visions category at SXSW, a classification bestowed upon the most innovative of titles to play at the festival, Violet oozes with originality and creativity in its earnest examination of severe anxiety and the catastrophic control it can hold over an individual’s mental well-being.
The film’s title character (Olivia Munn) is a thirty-something film executive whose career ambitions have transformed her into a respected force within the movie industry. Yet, despite all of Violet’s lofty aspirations and successes along the way, self-doubt has loomed over her like an umbrella in the form of a nasty and demanding inner-voice (Justin Theroux) that has steered her every decision for a lifetime. But one day, Violet decides to revolt against this dictatorial voice inside her head and finally begins living the life that she’s always wanted.
Mental health awareness is an ever-growing phenomenon in our society, and Justine Bateman’s Violet tackles the daily grind of dealing with anxiety in such a unique and gripping manner. She not only injects the burdensome inner struggles of this disorder into Olivia Munn’s title character, Bateman actually transforms them into their own central character of the film with such a cutting-edge style. And coupling this creative ingenuity with a formidable cast that’s headlined wonderfully by Newsroom’s Olivia Munn, Violet effortlessly separates itself from the pack. Munn dives right into her character’s psyche with an impressive and natural ease, something that she maintains brilliantly throughout the film. In fact, there’s a lot to enjoy here as Violet and its empowering message culminate into a wonderful directorial debut for Justine Bateman, whose lifelong experience within the film industry paints a brutally accurate portrait of what it’s like for a woman to withstand a career in Hollywood. However, it also feels that beyond the surface of this somewhat gimmicky and groundbreaking narrative structure, very little exists. And while Violet certainly captures the true essence of how it feels to live with an anxiety disorder, it’s themes and subplots are shallow and lacking. Although it may not be the complete package, there’s still plenty of strengths surrounding this worthwhile first feature from Justine Bateman.
Grade: 3/5
