That was a hell of a thing. I'd been warned about The Tale. I knew that it was about some dark stuff and took on the material head on. Despite "spoiling" a lot of the surprise of the movie, I still found myself getting really worked up as I watched the movie. Even just thinking about some of the stuff that happens to Laura Dern's character in the movie when she's younger is making me angry now. So, Trigger Warning. That should be noted going into the movie.
The Tale does a great job handling the material. Laura Dern working through it all is tremendous. Dern's younger self, played by Isabelle Nelisse, is quite good too. The rest of the impressive cast - Ellen Bustyn, Jason Ritter, Elizabeth Debicki, Common, Frances Conroy - are a level below them but still quite good.
I spent a lot of this movie thinking about Life, Itself. Not because they have anything in common in terms of plot. But because both movies rely heavily on the unreliability of a narrator. The Tale does it so much better and spends less time showing off. That's because The Tale uses an unreliable narrator as a bug, not a feature. Time has a way of softening memories. The Tale exposes how problematic that can be. It doesn't use it for twists. It's more like getting a clearer lens for your glasses. That element of the movie was wonderfully handled.
Partly because I was so angry on behalf of Laura Dern's character, I wasn't very satisfied by the ending of the movie. I wanted the retribution to be so much better. That's exactly what the movie was going for. So, even though I wasn't satisfied with it emotionally, I was satisfied with it artistically, I guess.
It's really hard for me to recommend this movie. Not a lot of people like to be emotionally distressed by choice. All I can say is that if you watch this, you'll feel something, you'll appreciate Laura Dern as an actress even more, and you'll want to punch a few normally likable actors in the face.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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