Whatever It Takes

Young women conniving and thriving:

THOROUGHBREDS (B) - This thriller, about two young women who bond over a murder plot, boasts confidence and strong performances, but it's not convincing as a realistic story. Amanda (Olivia Cooke) and Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) awkwardly try to bond again in Lily's Connecticut mansion as Amanda tries to re-acclimate to society after the mercy killing of her horse, which branded her as a pariah. Lily hates her step-dad, who comes off as coarse and creepy. Amanda is emotionally numb and blank-faced, while Lily puts on a perky face.

The slow burn here is a bit undercooked, but the actresses play off each other sharply in this debut feature from Cory Finley. This is entertaining enough across 92 minutes, and the slow twist about what's really happening in Lily's home is clever. But in the end there is something insubstantial, even theatrical about this genre exercise.

ROSETTA (1999) (A-minus) - The Dardenne brothers burst on the scene with this harrowing, brutal examination of the life of an underclass young woman struggling to get by with a drunkard of a mother in an unforgiving world. Rosetta (Emilie Dequenne) is plain-looking and prone to emotional outbursts. When she finds a boy who reaches out to her, she is like a wild animal, unable to forge an emotional connection. She's obsessed with finding and keeping a job, if only to send her mother to rehab. The Dardennes establish their shaky, over-the-shoulder style and they introduce a raw manner of storytelling that would flourish in harried cinema verite gems like "L'Enfant," "The Son" and "The Kid With a Bike." This one can be rough to sit through, but Dequenne cuts a compelling figure.