The description of the film is a little intriguing, but nothing more: “A New York Times travel writer comes to Tel Aviv after suffering a tragedy. The energy of the city and his relationship with a younger man brings him back to life.”
1/10
A complete failure.
I don’t want to write a Sublet (2020) movie review, but I have to. I have to squeeze constructive criticism out of myself, leave at least some benefit from the wasted two hours of my life.
I’m glad to think that this feedback will help someone save their time. Let’s start.
Despite the so-called “tragedy”, I don’t want to learn about it for some reason, and when the secret comes to light, I consciously state a large-scale indifference. Maybe something is wrong with me, or I don’t have a heart, but I didn’t feel any fluctuations of emotions.
I spent the whole movie feeling nothing but wanting to turn this crap off.
“And what?”
From the very first frames to the very credits, I asked myself the same question: “So what? And?”. I could not understand exactly what the authors of the film Sublet (2020) want to show, what exactly the actors, characters, cameramen, and sound engineers portrayed.
For half an hour, nothing interesting and gripping happened. Absolutely nothing.
Too long takes, full of emptiness and lack of intrigue, interest, they are mundane and not worthy of being a movie I spend my life on.
Characters in Sublet (2020)
Both characters are dull and uninteresting. Maybe that’s why they developed a liking for each other?
I kept thinking that Sublet (2020) was just a vlog I discovered on YouTube. Amateur camerawork, total disregard for accents and dynamics, lack of any development. Nothing happens in the movie.
Alternative?
This film could have been saved by four things (at least one of them):
- Some successful total nonsense that suddenly finds itself in the middle of a boring homosexual drama. Something like “From Dusk Till Dawn”. Some trash, something unexpected that could overshadow the crap I was forced to watch.
- Interesting dialogues. The characters talk a hell of a lot. And about what? About everything in a row and nothing at the same time. These are mundane, absolutely ordinary, empty conversations that are not attractive in any way. The hand was reaching to rewind to the next take.
- Good script. What is happening on the screen is neither interesting nor attractive. I have no negativity towards LGBT. Yes, the film Sublet (2020) is about gays, but it is only about gays (a little more about bisexuals), about two (three) ordinary, uninteresting gays. There is absolutely nothing more in the film (especially in the script). No interesting events, no surprises, no intrigue, no drama, and the tragedy stated in the description looks plastic. Failed scenario, failed implementation.
- Cinematography. As a visual, I could at least let my eyes rest while my brain frantically tries to find at least something interesting in the film. But no. Even here I was disappointed. There was only one successful take that lasted a few seconds. I would like it to happen from beginning to end. The cameraman simply existed together with the filming equipment on the set. Was there even a cameraman there?
I will not develop my fantasy about improvement further. I will stop at four points, although two or three more could be added. But of course “Sublet” has the right to exist as one of those that pleases the eye of the LGBT community. It is someone’s child. Its parents must be proud. Let it be so.
A film about a writer
The main character is a journalist at the New York Times, a travel columnist who wanders the world and leaves his impressions in fascinating lines of his publications.
Throughout the movie, I never once saw him write anything or at least pretend to be a journalist, an author. The character absolutely does not correspond to the declared image, not only do I not believe that he is a journalist in a world-famous newspaper, I do not see it on the screen, because neither the script says anything written, nor the actor does anything that could convince me otherwise.
The film Sublet (2020) is only on paper about a writer. In fact, this is a film about the everyday life of homosexuals. There is absolutely nothing else here.
Even if instead of the LGBT theme there was another, any theme, nothing would have changed. The movie is terrible, by any measure.
Conclusions
I tried to restrain myself in this movie review, constantly removing some aggressive and unfortunate sentences. I don’t want to offend anyone just because I didn’t like it.
I have to admit that this movie is not bad, it does not teach anything shameful. It is calm, it is simple, very understandable and too monotonous.
I didn’t learn anything new, I didn’t see good cinematography, I didn’t feel Tel Aviv, I didn’t sympathize with the main characters, I didn’t care what would happen to them.
This indifference leaves no chance to see anything good for yourself in this tape. It absolutely does not deserve two hours of my life. Everything in this film is too simple, superficial, amateurish and uninteresting.
This is the worst movie about writers and the worst movie I’ve seen in the last two years, for sure.
Just because it’s an innocent movie, I give it 1 point.
My rating for the movie Sublet (2020) is 1 out of 10
