Jake Rosenberg’s review published on Letterboxd:
DIRECTOR’S CUT
Not as essential as I’d hoped, but still lots of cool extras for fans. Christian & Josh’s relationship is dwelled upon to a greater extent for the better, & there’s a new ritual scene that teases something so truly atrocious that I’m glad it was merely a tease. One of the things I love about cults in movies (& particularly this one) is seeing their rituals, the singing & dancing, & this cut has more of that. It’s a lot funnier too. That said, I still found myself waiting for my favorite scenes from the theatrical cut, since no scene from this comes close to topping the highlights from the original. In both of my previous viewings, I had no problem with what happened to Christian, so this cut dwelling on him to make you hate him didn’t do that much for me. It was interesting to see them argue for real & allow the actors to flex their chops, but it also takes what made the theatrical cut so enthralling for me, the Cold War of a passive aggressive relationship in decline, & makes it way more obvious, on the nose, & kinda clunky. I guess it did make him more complex, though. Overall, I didn’t find that much terribly new here so much as fleshed out, which I appreciate, but just don’t find that essential. I do like how the plot has less agency, letting us just hang out & soak everything in for the trip that it is. In conclusion, really glad I got to see this for the full picture that it is!
Also, call me Ben Shapiro cuz I’m an elite cuck for getting to see this version that only showed in select theatres. Thanks Oriental!
