This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
Alex🪓’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
Woah, framing-device-ception?
Beneath the layers of charm and the breathtaking, meticulously crafted visuals, The Grand Budapest Hotel is a surprisingly poignant movie. By the end of the movie, Zero is rich, yet his life is so empty without M. Gustave and Agatha. The hotel has become useless, a little tourist destination at best, yet Zero continues to visit because of how it reminds him of everything he lost. In the end, trying to preserve a ghost of his past is a better option than continuing to live an empty life surrounded by wealth. The character dynamics are a major focus of the movie, and in my opinion, I think the movie is about how relationships of all kinds can change you, no matter who they were or how long the relationship lasted.
I can't believe I've only seen this twice now. The dry humour mixed with the bright design makes for such an interesting watch! Agatha deserved more screentime but I really like her and both main characters, and the supporting cast often manages to make their characters seem interesting as well. I forgot that Tilda Swinton AND Owen Wilson were in this; that just tells you how stacked the cast is. I'd happily watch 20 hours of this but it still manages to feel fulfilling in just 100 minutes. If it weren't for the last few minutes, which are possibly the best part of the movie, this would probably be my comfort movie :(
Absolutely amazing from start to finish
95/100
