MGM’s marketing team really scraping the bottom of the barrel

I clocked that too, OP. The movie has been panned nearly across the board, so they’re desperate.

Here’s something to chew on.

Guadagnino sent this turkey to Venice. He also sent his last turkeys, Queer and Bones and All, to Venice.

His best reviewed film, Call Me By Your Name, was sent to Sundance. Industry people were commenting how strange that such a good film was sent to Sundance instead of Venice (Guadagnino’s previous films had also premiered in Venice). Sundance is for up-and-coming directors. But it has also been used by more established filmmakers as a test audience.

Following the long standing ovation at the first screening, Guadagnino et all took the stage and they were visibly shocked. Why?

Guadagnino was unhappy with the final cut of CMBYN. He had intended for Elio to kill himself at the waterfall. Guadagnino has a well known fear of water and many of his films have climactic water deaths. Water represents the meeting of Eros and Thanatos (sex and death) in his films. Waterfalls also are used in fiction to represent a liminal space between life and death (Reichenbach Falls from Sherlock Holmes is probably the most famous example.)

The eerie shot of Hammer looking back is a reference to Orpheus and Euridyce’s climax. Orpheus turns his head back to look at Euridyce, despite Hades’ warning not to do so. Looking back at Eurydice sends her back to Hades. Elio is rushing towards his death.

When watching early cuts, the filmmakers probably realized this was a very bad idea, and impressionable young queer people might view this as romantic and start throwing themselves off waterfalls when they get their hearts broken. That was why they cut it and wrote the life-affirming speech for Sthulberg, But Guadagnino wasn’t pleased because it wasn’t true to his vision, so they sent it to Sundance to test it out.

He accidentally made his best film.

No thanks, I'll just rewatch Tar again.

OP/R1, the movie got a glowing review in The New Yorker this week, and it makes me want to see it.

I think it looks infinitely better and more interesting than Tar, R3, that Blanchett hamfest. I was laughing almost as hard at that as I was laughing at Call Me By Your Name.