Filmmaking is hard, and it’s never easy to critique or something. It’s especially tough to do when the film features two actors who could have made it an extraordinary feature. Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan are two of the best young actors of our time, so what went wrong in Prime Video’s Foe? It should’ve been a no-brainer that the movie would’ve been, if nothing else, memorable.
Unfortunately, Prime Video’s Foe tries so hard to be a distinct sci-fi thriller that it loses sight of the characterizations and the relationship. There’s plenty that could’ve been done in a single setting, with two talented actors taking challenges to new heights and allowing the characters to come out stronger than before. Instead, the film’s convoluted plot takes the attention away from the character journeys, throws them in the back seat and forces us to drive unthinkingly toward unanswered questions. Ambiguity is indeed fascinating at times, but there has to be at least some form of an answer that makes us care.
There’s sadly nothing to care about in this film, including the characters. Mescal and Ronan do their best with a muddled screenplay, but it’s still not enough to call it great. Who are these characters? Why should we care for them? Is their relationship one we could even trust? Is it worth investing in? Dystopian settings need viewers to invest in the characters and their quests for something more, but in Prime Video’s Foe, none of it is even a little clear. In some scenes, it’s so dark that the viewer can barely see what’s happening to decipher if maybe the actors are showing us things we’re meant to look closely at.
In its attempt to test the marriage between Hen and Junior, the film tries to touch on details we aren’t familiar with before coming into all this. It’s challenging even to bring our own human experiences into the mix because we’re watching one wrench after another strike a weird blow where nothing about the curveballs teaches us anything.
As someone who adores quiet intimacy in films (and TV), trying to understand the heart between Hen and Junior took far more work than anything has in a while. There’s a brief scene where they talk about their pasts and the questions they had, but there are no real answers, only brief kisses and adorable moments of flirting. As hot as both actors are and as dazzling as their chemistry could’ve been, there’s nothing to latch onto and want more of. A few gorgeous shots here and there don’t convey anything outside the hollowness of the town they live in. It’s rare to watch a film and be thrilled that it’s over without processing any of it, and a large reason why this happens is because the screenplay doesn’t spend nearly enough time unraveling a single theme. If it wants to emphasize the importance of choices, which comes up if you look very closely, it doesn’t plant enough seeds that allow it to grow into something visible.
It’s unfortunate, truly, because more than anything else, it bears repeating that Mescal and Ronan could’ve done something extraordinary with a clearer screenplay that isn’t trying to mix too many ingredients into a single blender. The two are sensational in nearly everything they’re in (including here if we solely break apart their performances), but the overall characterizations do nothing memorable.
Foe is now streaming on Prime Video.