Elle Fanning Rosebush Pruning unfolds as a darkly stylized satire of an affluent American family wrestling with aimlessness and entitlement amid the sun-drenched Catalonia coast. Directed by Karim Aїnouz and written by Efthimis Filippou, the film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, peeling back layers of superficiality and dysfunction within the Taylor family, whose members are bound by inheritance, vices, and twisted loyalties.
At the heart of this parable lies a biting critique delivered with biting humor and dread, exposing the emptiness of wealth and obsession with appearances through the lens of a story steeped in familial cruelty and manipulation.
A Displaced Family Caught in Their Own Bubble
Six years prior, the Taylors moved from New York to Catalonia but never managed to adapt beyond their isolated world of mutual praise and narcissism. The patriarch, a blind widower played by Tracy Letts, clings to the coastal region as an emblem of culture, while his deceased wife (Pamela Anderson) was enamored with local architecture by Antonio Gaudí. The four adult siblings—Ed (Callum Turner), Anna (Riley Keough), Jack (Jamie Bell), and Robert (Lukas Gage)—idolize the fashion legacy of Cristóbal Balenciaga, despite the irony that Balenciaga hailed from the Basque Country, geographically opposite Catalonia. This geographic inaccuracy serves as a deliberate jest within the film’s satirical fabric.
Inspired by Classic European Cinema and Dark Humor
Rosebush Pruning draws loosely from Marco Bellocchio’s 1965 Fists in the Pocket, a foundational exploration of bourgeois dysfunction. Efthimis Filippou, known for his collaborations with Yorgos Lanthimos, crafts a screenplay imbued with deadpan absurdity familiar to audiences of The Lobster and Dogtooth. Aїnouz’s film blends this dark comedic approach with an unsettling undertone, filled with eerie tension and sexual ambiguity, resulting in an experience that some viewers may find challenging.
The plot centers on a dysfunctional family riddled with abuse and incapacities, including a blind father and an epileptic sibling. A mounting tension revolves around a series of murders, committed to liberate the eldest brother, Jack, so he can pursue a relationship with Martha, portrayed by Elle Fanning, whose presence intensifies family unease.
Social Climbing and Superficial Judgments in Family Dynamics
The introduction of Martha into the family triggers biting scrutiny centered on her appearance and social standing. The blind father demands Anna evaluate her handbag—inquiring whether it is Bottega Veneta—and assess her figure, leading Anna to deride Martha’s looks and fashion choices, labeling the dress as a high-end fast-fashion brand like Zara or Cos. Luxury items gifted by Jack, such as a Cartier ring and the said handbag, fail to shield Martha from implied accusations of gold-digging.
Ed attempts to ease Martha’s entry by sharing a ludicrously trivial tale about hunting for a rare Comme des Garçons bag, which he ultimately replaces with an even more luxurious Raf Simons version. Turner convincingly portrays Ed’s sincere superficiality, reflecting a culture consumed by possessions and status symbols.
“I’m sick of having to beg for basic things!”
Martha vents, hinting at her own frustrations amid privilege and luxury.
Stylized Performances Amidst a Chilly and Acrid Tone
Despite its sharply drawn characters and fashion-forward aesthetics, the film’s tone remains cold and cerebral, undermining the potential for humor or empathy. Aїnouz’s signature sensual touch, evident in previous works like Invisible Life and Madame Satã, is largely subdued by Filippou’s detached writing style, yielding a film that feels more like an imitation of Lanthimos’s style than a compelling original.
While the screenplay explores the poisonous intertwining of family and power, it does so without offering much emotional resonance, leaving the movie with a glibness that some viewers may find off-putting.
Family Rituals and Dark Symbolism Heighten Tension
The film is rich with unsettling rituals and symbolic moments that reveal the Taylors’ dysfunction. One such scene involves a monthly offering of a sheep carcass deep in the forest, intended to appease wolves believed responsible for gruesome attacks on Mrs. Taylor. This eerie motif complements the film’s exploration of sacrifice and control within the family.
Ed’s habit of inventing proverbs adds another layer of intrigue, with the title phrase—
“People love roses. Families are rosebushes. Rosebushes need pruning.”
—serving as a dark metaphor for violent familial “cleansing.”
Complex Character Interactions and Sexual Undertones
Riley Keough’s Anna exhibits a provocative energy, wearing baby blue go-go boots, visibly enjoying the attention she draws, including flirtations both innocent and charged. Robert’s (Lukas Gage) seductive gestures further complicate the family dynamic, as he openly admires his brother Jack and pushes boundaries with risqué behavior, adding to the film’s raw, often uncomfortable sexual atmosphere.
Jamie Bell and Callum Turner effectively capture the charisma and underlying menace of their characters, Jack and Ed, whose ambitions and secrets drive much of the plot’s tension. Ed’s eerie voice-mimicking exercises—repeating the words likely to be etched on Jack’s grave—foreshadow the dark events to come.
Visual and Musical Elements Enhance the Dark Mood
The film’s cinematography by Hélène Louvart contrasts lush darkness with vivid, colorful widescreen shots that reflect the family’s fractured reality. Matthew Herbert’s score intensifies key moments, particularly the haunting wolf scene, where a crescendo of orchestral hysteria elevates the suspense. Costume design by Bina Daigeler punctuates the story with ostentatious glamour, making fashion itself a character in this heirloom of vanity and desire. Robert’s mesh shirt exemplifies this, drawing a provocative parallel to Franz Rogowski’s style in Passages.
Stylish Craft Meets Emotional Detachment
Though the film culminates with the resolution of the family’s sinister schemes, revealing the outcome over the end credits, the lack of relatable humanity makes their ruthless triumph viewer-detached. The impeccable production values and strong performances cannot fully redeem the alienating coldness of its narrative, leaving audiences with a lingering bitterness rather than satisfaction.
Elle Fanning’s portrayal of Martha is a highlight amid the film’s calculated artifice, bringing a subtle emotional undercurrent to an otherwise glib and stylized story.
