'Velvet Buzzsaw' review — The art world, satire, and horror collide

Velvet Buzzsaw has trouble balancing its satirical and horror elements, which results in an interesting, but unsatisfying Netflix original. 

Velvet Buzzsaw doesn’t become the movie we want it to be until the last 30 minutes. That’s when it starts working effectively as an art-world satire and horror-thriller. The rest, though, has a hard time striking a balance between too. So much so that it strikes exactly the wrong balance.

However, there are interesting elements. The film reunites director and writer Dan Gilroy with Jake Gyllenhaal who plays Morf, a highly respected Los Angeles art critic, and Rene Russo as no-nonsense gallery owner Rhodora, both of whom he worked with in his film debut Nightcrawler.

With Velvet Buzzsaw, he trades the dark and shadowy crime underbelly of Los Angeles with the colorful and chic world of the art community. Everything is brightly lit, incredibly crisp, and fully saturated. And that’s a problem. Not only does it not create the tense atmosphere the movie…