Do you think Robert Pattinson would let me massage a deep conditioning mask into that bleach job?

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[TRAILER]

I think something very important is happening, and it's deeply connected to my purpose.

After seeing The Lighthouse—and the trailer for Uncut Gems—last weekend, I was reminded how incredible of an actor Robert Pattinson is and how wonderful the Safdie brothers are, so I decided to risk my job* and show my high school film students Good Time. I was a little worried that they wouldn’t “get it,” but after reading their assigned reviews, I am happy to report that high schoolers love this film, and you will, too! (But also, spoilers ahead, so I recommend you just go watch it now before you continue reading.)

The film centers on two brothers, Constantine “Connie” and Nikolas “Nick” Nikas, and it doesn’t care to formally introduce us to them or any of the other players; we learn their names and stories in real-time, in true Safdie fashion. In the first scene, we see disabled Nick (played by co-director Benny Safdie**) in a therapy session cut short by an irate Connie; in the second, the two are robbing a bank in disguises that include almost-lifelike latex masks. As jarring as they are, these are somehow two of only a few scenes that feel grounded in real life; from the moment they escape with the money, the movie takes a turn into the seedy underground that it navigates until the closing scene. Connie outruns the cops, but Nick is caught, and that’s when the real trouble begins. 

The story itself is as surreal as those latex masks, but the bizarro-world feel dials up as day turns to night. Connie, desperate to make Nick’s bail, is racing the clock to scam a meager $10,000 from his girlfriend (via her mother’s credit card). When her card gets declined, his choices escalate into increasing levels of chaos; cinematographer Sean Price Williams amplifies the tone with extreme close-ups on Pattinson’s manic eyes and drenches scenes in hazy, dripping neon lights, more vibrant and gritty and crackling than life itself (just like Connie) on Techniscope. Paired with the score by Oneohtrix Point Never, the film feels like it’s forced us into an acid trip, just like that poor Adventureland security guard, and it’s equal parts beautiful and terrifying.

Pattinson and I have just a few things in common (we’re both bottle blondes), but one of them is that we both fell in love with the Safdie brothers through 2014’s Heaven Knows What; the difference is that I saw the film at a festival, and Pattinson just saw a picture of the poster, then reached out to Benjamin and Joshua Safdie to tell them he would work with them on whatever they wanted. Whether that story is true or not, I like to believe the next part, which is that Josh and Ronald Bronstein wrote the script for Good Time with Pattinson in mind. In this film, Pattinson is far removed from the Twilight heartthrob, and though he’s had many roles between then and now, this is by far the most gripping (aside from maybe The Lighthouse, but that’s for another reviewer to detail). 

His performance as Connie Nikas is chilling. Every time you think you’ve seen Connie become The Worst, he finds a new depth to plumb. Let’s be real: Robert Pattinson is hot, even as a garbage person. However, his looks are only a small part of what makes his character’s manipulations so successful. We see the calculations in that beautiful, scary head as he works over his girlfriend, the hospital employees, a teenage girl and her grandmother, and a fellow criminal. As he tells Ray near the end of the movie, he sees himself as infinitely superior, his needs superseding all else. The viewer is worked over as well: by the end of the film, every time I watch, I find myself simultaneously relieved and surprised to see Connie pay penance. He leads everyone, including himself, to believe that he’s a hero, so for us to see him so small and defeated feels incongruent.

The truth is that it isn’t so simple a fact as that Connie is a sociopathic piece of shit, because there is one person he does care for: Nick. Connie may be a criminal, and we can tell that the film’s events are far from his first offenses, but the entire movie is driven by his fierce need to protect Nick. Maybe that’s why we want to see him win, even if he leaves a path of neon-lit destruction in his wake. On the other hand, I can’t imagine a more satisfying end to the film: Nick finally making it to group therapy, where he wordlessly admits his family troubles, backed by the most heartbreaking Iggy Pop vocals imaginable. The final scene is such a drastic turn away from the synthesized, breakneck paced preceding 95 minutes, it’s equal parts sweet relief and a screeching halt. The ride is over, and catching your breath hurts almost as much as losing it. 

*Don’t worry, my job isn’t at stake: I had the kids get parent permission slips signed for all rated-R movies at the beginning of the year.

**If you, like me, were curious why a disabled actor wasn’t cast, let me direct you to this Guardian interview, which includes an explanation along with some other fun anecdotes about the film.