Starring: Zoe Kazan, Jake Johnson, John Caroll Lynch.
The Pretty One, follows a pair of identical twins who live opposite lives. When about to move in with each other, they get into a car crash and one dies, but which one? The shy and introverted sister, takes over the life of her more outgoing, city girl sister and finds happiness... Until she comes forward with the truth.
The first film of 2015 and it's a new favourite. The film starred Zoe Kazan, who was in Ruby Sparks, another favourite of mine and the films both reminded me of each other. There were very few locations, a lot of natural lighting and a quirky aesthetic that combined with vibrant colours and ridiculously beautiful colour palettes.
The film featured Jake Johnson, who you may better know as Nick, from New Girl. Johnson, gave a lovely performance and gave his character a certain charm that you could not escape from. Zoe Kazan, who plays both of the twins, also gave a very electric performance and you were able to see how dynamic she is, when seeing her play both personalities.
As previously stated, there were very few locations, however the scenes created were so vintage and eclectic The lack of locations and settings made the story more central and characters more prominent which I thought was excellent considering the story-line.
The cinematography in this film was so pleasing. The colours used were so intense, rich and deep and they were each complimented by the rest of the colours in the scenes. The shot types didn't stand out to me too much however the composition of the shots and mise-en-scene was perfect and added another quirky element.
The clothing of the characters and the settings of the rooms were made up so well. Each individual item shown, showed so much into the characters personality, even though we do not actually get much insight into them. The items used were also very individual and unlike those you see in other films, which is something that made the film stand out to me more.
The lack of insight into the characters, was a downside to me. Personally, I loved the two main characters - being Lauren (Kazan) and Basel (Johnson). I would have loved to have seen more into their relationship and into them as people, Unfortunately that never really happened and we were left to own imagination. This I felt was something that happened all the way through. Nothing really went into depth and the film was over quite fast and you weren't left with much but great cinematography and a unique story-line.
As a whole, the film had everything I love. A romantic but real love-story, a unique story-line, good use of colours and props, stunning settings and an element of innocence. If you liked Ruby Sparks or What If, then here is another Zoe Kazan film for you.
