Thoroughbreds may seem like a typical thriller about getting away with murder, but it is much more than it appears to be. This feature is part thriller, part black comedy, and part drama about two opposite teenagers who are old friends but begin to fully understand each other's lives for the very first time. Anya Taylor-Joy portrays Lily Reynolds, a high school student who has a tutoring session with her old friend Amanda (Olivia Cooke), giving them both a chance to spend time together and catch up after the death of Lily's father.
While Lily has feelings, Amanda doesn't have any emotions due to an unspecified medical disorder. However, they both share a connection because they are each raised by rich families but do not find satisfaction in their own lives. Lily is especially disgusted by her stepfather (who has made life difficult for her and her mom) and thinks about killing him. This is a dark teenage thriller that questions what it means to feel anything in life, especially when it comes to finding happiness and purpose or fantasizing about murder.
Anya Taylor-Joy Is An Expert In Thrillers
Anya Taylor-Joy's performance as Lily is complex and transformative because she's a character who initially pretends to act normal and pleasant on the outside, pretending that her life is in order. However, as her long-lost friendship with Amanda rekindles, Lily exposes more of her true self because Amanda wants Lily to be honest with her about everything, including her problems with her stepfather at home. Lily also becomes more angry and rebellious towards her stepdad when she talks to Amanda about ways they can kill him.
Anya's role as Lily is further supported by Olivia Cooke's intriguing performance as Amanda because both women have slightly different personalities by the end of the film. By learning more about each other, Amanda starts to gain some feelings for Lily, caring about her as a friend and understanding her frustration towards her stepfather, allowing Lily to carry out her plan to murder him. Lily becomes less hesitant and not as fearful about what she really wants to do in her life, such as going to a college of her own choice away from home and being more independent.
Anya is no stranger to thrillers since she also played a conflicted young woman with an abusive father in M. Night Shyamalan's Split. However, while she was a heroine in that film, she is more calculating here as Lily since her character bleakly fantasizes about murder (reminiscent of Christian Bale's Patrick Bateman from American Psycho). Lily also displays dark humor during her conversations with Amanda, such as discussing what they envision in their future, the nature of feeling and people pretending to cry like in the movies, and laying out their flawed plan in executing Lilly's stepdad to a small-time drug addict named Tim (played by the late Anton Yelchin in his final performance as a funny and emotional drug dealer who has no experience in killing and dreams of making it big in his future).
Music and Sound Capture The Character's Actions
The score for the film is eerie, especially the use of the drums, the violin, and percussive instruments because the music offers suspense and unpredictability towards what Lily and Amanda will do next. For instance, the beginning of the film first shows Amanda looking around inside Lily's home, walking into each room, opening an envelope of money, and taking out an old sword. A loud drum sound is heard until Lily is first seen meeting with Amanda. The intro displays the curiosity between the two main protagonists, instantly raising questions about their true intentions.
Sound is also a key element in this film due to the characters and their actions. One example is when Lily tells Amanda about her stepfather's exercise machine called the ergometer, which both teenagers find loud and annoying, especially when they're having conversations or watching old movies together. During the climax, there's a long take in which Amanda is shown sleeping in the living room with the TV on after being drugged, while Lily goes upstairs with a knife to stab her stepdad. While the camera focuses on Amanda, the ergometer is heard running upstairs until it stops, meaning Lily successfully killed her stepfather.
Along with the score and sound, there are long takes that primarily show the two protagonists in Lily's large and expensive family home, which is a common setting for whodunit and murder mystery films like Knives Out, as well as psychological thrillers directed by Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho and Rear Window). By making Lily's house the main center of attention, there is a sense of claustrophobia because Lily feels entrapped there, especially since her stepdad is the one calling most of the shots in the household.
Thoroughbreds is a thriller that takes its time in introducing every character and primarily focuses on the relationship between Lily and Amanda, two teenagers who are troubled because they are determined to find a way out of their miserable and unfulfilling lives with their wealthy parents. What also makes this feature intriguing and traditional like other classic thrillers is that the majority of the violence is depicted off-screen and not explicitly shown, making the film feel like a stage play (which was the original intention for Cory Finley in his directorial debut). And once again, Anya Taylor-Joy proves her worth as a leading star who can combine drama and comedy in a twisted character.