'Violet' dares to destabilize
HANDOUT
You’re a director. (Congrats!) You’ve just been tasked with creating a visual approach to represent extremely fragile mental health. (You’re now probably not as excited anymore.) What do you do?
For writer-director Justine Bateman — yes, that Justine Bateman (“Family Ties”) — it means a frequent onslaught of self-correction and quiet contradiction of that adjustment, a cognitive pinball machine refusing to give Violet (Olivia Munn) space or peace. More specifically: When faced with a difficult situation at work or on the phone or in line or anywhere (she struggles with a lot), Violet’s true feelings usually only get oxygen as text onscreen, representing thoughts that take third priority after a nagging voice (Justin Theroux) steers the words she says in whatever direction most indulges her greatest fears. Often Violet, who has a great job in an L.A.-based production company but can’t even speak strongly to people below her, knows that she doesn’t agree with the voice, but awareness doesn’t remotely mean she has the power to stop it.
If this sounds like a movie that can be tough to watch, you’re right, and it’s one of the many things Bateman does well. Very much at the mercy of past traumas and perpetual doubts, Violet is always near-implosion, and “Violet” excels at making us feel the isolation and confusion of her unease. Some might find continuous depictions of a particularly haunting childhood memory or some other more abstract, disturbing images to be repetitive; I’d argue Bateman is willing to do what few filmmakers would, which is to recognize the nagging impact of Violet’s most persistently agonizing thoughts. That they’re reruns makes them no less fresh.
What’s less successful, as Violet attempts to navigate her increasingly unhappy career and unsatisfying personal life, are the details that Bateman keeps broad. Her boss (Dennis Boutsikaris) is beyond horrible; her longtime friend (Luke Bracey) is dreamy and flawless. And Violet’s inner conflict about whether or not to pursue material she most believes in spins its wheels that lose sight of her role, her options, and certain facets of the industry itself.
Yet “Violet” does a terrific job of depicting the difference between living with fear vs. courage, and the parting of clouds that comes from separating from toxicity. Upsetting and thought-provoking, “Violet” isn’t really the sort of thing you “like,” but it has the potential to mean a great deal.
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