Tár (2022) Review

"You want to dance the masque, you must service the composer."

Rarely does an actor sink so luxuriously into a role as Cate Blanchett does as the title character. Swinging from aloof to cruel as she deems necessary, but always dominating the proceedings until one thing after another spins out of her long-honed sense of control.

The film toys with themes of cancel culture and #MeToo of course, and most films would be content to play in that sandbox, but it also has a subtle whiff of a ghost story smuggled in a few enticing pans of the camera, as well as a sort of hallucinatory heart of darkness motif that signals the final downfall or the stirrings of a redemption, depending on how one chooses to read the ending. This extra bit of spice over a straight-on 'biopic'-style 'Tár on Tár' re-telling elevates the film from good to great.