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‘Warhol’ review: Dir. Adam Ethan Crow [Raindance 2023]

Andy Warhol once predicted that everyone would be famous for fifteen minutes. This concept forms the basis for Adam Ethan Crow’s new feature film, Warhol. Set over the course of one evening, Warhol intertwines the lives of several strangers during the dead of night. 

Filmed across London, Adam Ethan Crow captures the beauty and wonder of the Capitol at night. Warhol also manages to convey that eerie silence that comes from the twilight hours. In a city that never really sleeps, Warhol focuses on some of those that roam the street whilst the rest of us are tucked up in bed. The characters are an interesting mix, and working how they do and don’t connect is interesting to watch play out. There is a trio in the late stages of a contest to win a car, a young man on the brink of gang initiation, and a mother and daughter settling in for the night. At the centre of it all is a late-night radio show, hosted by controversial American, Dave Dawson (Corey Johnson).

Warhol is not a film with a conventional through-line plot. This might frustrate general audiences, but those that are up for something more thought provoking will have plenty to delve into. Warhol forgoes the traditional narrative structure in favour of a more free-flowing format. Instead of the standard three-act formation, Warhol is a sequence of conversations and set-pieces that, although initially appear fractured, eventually merge together to become a more cohesive whole. The conversations themselves stir up plenty of food for thought as they explore humanity’s need for connection, desire for inclusion, and the complex relationship modern society has with fame. Given its focus on thoughts and concepts over action, the pace of Warhol is at times slow. To counteract this the run time is a svelte eighty minutes and never outstays its welcome. 

A well thought out analysis of modern society, Warhol presents its complex ideas in an interesting format. Everything builds to an intense finale that hammers home the messages that have been building to. A taut psychological study, Warhol is stylish thriller which fully engages the cerebral cortex. 

Warhol

Kat Hughes

Warhol

Summary

An inventive and interesting psychological study that shines a spotlight on society’s new obsession with getting their fleeting moments of fame, no matter the consequence. 

4

Warhol was reviewed at Raindance 2023. 

Kat Hughes is a UK born film critic and interviewer who has a passion for horror films. An editor for THN, Kat is also a Rotten Tomatoes Approved Critic. She has bylines with Ghouls Magazine, Arrow Video, Film Stories, Certified Forgotten and FILMHOUNDS and has had essays published in home entertainment releases by Vinegar Syndrome and Second Sight. When not writing about horror, Kat hosts micro podcast Movies with Mummy along with her five-year-old daughter.

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