Sofia Coppola seems to have set out to do the opposite of her trademark first few movies, which were colorful, well paced, and found something cheerful amid sadness. Here she works with a slow pace, morose tone, unsaturated and dark cinematography, and weak storytelling, to no reward whatsoever. Yes, she assembles many interesting Southern Gothic images that look straight out of painting, but then overdoes it, with repetitive imagery. I understand it to be symobolic, as there is a brief break from this, into more light and colors, for about 5 minutes, when the characters explore romantic/sexual feelings, before returning to the same. But I've seen haunted house movies with more color. My eyes were literally craving color and light after watching this.
Not helping: the sound mixing was not that great, the accents were unstable, the soundtrack was not existent (save for a few pounding deep notes in one or two suspenseful sequences in the otherwise lifeless third act), there were too many lingering shots that seemed to be padding time, and when the plot swings into full gear, it is brief, has a couple of tense scenes, and then limps along to its conclusion. What should have been some sort of deep allegory for feminism or sexual repression, instead ends leaves you with a "huh" feeling.
Not helping: the sound mixing was not that great, the accents were unstable, the soundtrack was not existent (save for a few pounding deep notes in one or two suspenseful sequences in the otherwise lifeless third act), there were too many lingering shots that seemed to be padding time, and when the plot swings into full gear, it is brief, has a couple of tense scenes, and then limps along to its conclusion. What should have been some sort of deep allegory for feminism or sexual repression, instead ends leaves you with a "huh" feeling.