Review of Ballad in Blood

I still kind of enjoyed this but it's lesser Deodato for sure since it gets a bit dull and repetitive after a while. It's true none of the characters are people you can root for or sympathize with but that is nothing new for his films (there is an odd attempt to humanize near the end with a parental phone call but too little too late). For some reason, the mystery just isn't that engaging but the real life story that seems to have inspired this is much more interesting. Perhaps the realism of some of his earlier works is missing here since this feels pretty fake and the dialogue leaves a lot to be desired. I miss the gritty film aesthetic of his older stuff too. Still though, I was happy to see a new film by him.