Thoroughbreds
Written and Directed by Cory Finley
Out March 9
In Thoroughbreds, upper-crust teens Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Amanda (Olivia Cooke) renew an old friendship despite how wildly different their lives have become. Amanda is an unblinking social pariah who can rattle off all of the various DSM diagnoses psych doctors have been trying to pin on her since a particularly troubling incident a few years prior. Lily, on the other hand, is all sleek hair, wide eyes, boarding school exams, and fancy internships. As their façades crumble and their bond grows, they egg each other on to explore their darkest impulses. Along the way, they ensnare a local drug dealer (Anton Yelchin) to help them with a diabolical plan.
Cooke makes the most here of her meaty role, something she was deprived of in her previous film Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. And Taylor-Joy, who wowed audiences with her explosive performance in The Witch, continues her streak of playing teen-girls-gone-bad as the manicured but manipulative Lily. It’s also bittersweet to see Anton Yelchin turn in a fantastic performance, as this was one of his last roles before his untimely death in 2016. Thoroughbreds is a terrific thriller that marries the mutually destructive tendencies teen girls can bring out in each other, with the claustrophobia of a chamber piece. 4/5 — Jenni Miller
This article originally appeared in the February/March 2018 print edition of BUST Magazine. Subscribe today!
Top photo via Universal Pictures
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