i saw the director's cut. it has a very digital look and it's not the aesthetic nostalgia piece i think a lot of people wanted it to be. it's more akin to something like Legion: comic book sensibilities with an affinity for the psychic cinematics of Akira. i mean, it's clear that the, uh, sequel to The Shining was given to a horror nerd who... also likes anime? which isn't completely what i would've imagined coming from the guy who…

Demonlover 2, indeed. There was certainly a sense that Assayas owed to Verhoeven in terms of aesthetics and provocation — hentai and CGI porn essentially mimicking RoboCop's cuts to absurd commercials, or its frankness toward sexual taboo, among other things. This returns here via video game cutscenes, perhaps as a discreet reminder of the director we're dealing with — one who has been largely absent for more than 15 years, save for 2006's Black Book — cutting into a film…