There’s something terrifying about being the only one not in on the joke, like the fear of all your friends having a separate group chat without you. That feeling is the premise of Eli Horowitz’s debut feature film The Cow, which premiered on March 13 at SXSW.
Kath (Winona Ryder) is a middle-aged woman dating her former continuing education student Max (John Gallagher Jr.). When they show up at their cabin in the woods weekend together, another couple is already there. The guy, Al (Owen Teague), is a bit creepy, and his girlfriend Greta (Brianne Tju) throws out words like capitalist, consumerist, and cis-normative within the first moments we meet her as she describes the nature of modern relationships. Nonetheless, Kath and Max spend the night there, with nowhere else to go. When Max goes missing the next morning, Kath teams up with the homeowner Nicholas (Dermot Mulroney) to investigate Greta, whom she thinks slept with Max.
The narrative effectively jumps back and forth between past and present to both explain the mystery of Max’s disappearance and the nature of their relationship. It’s incredibly satisfying as layers are peeled off and we get closer to the truth, even if those layers become a bit predictable as they keep coming. The film keeps you guessing until the very end, though its finale is not nearly as consequential as it thinks it is.
Interestingly, one of its strongest technical successes is the lighting, which combines warm indoor lights with harsher and cooler natural light to perfectly encapsulate the feeling of each scene, whether it be at the cabin in the woods or an underground club. The film looks very good overall, and the aforementioned narrative style is complemented with nicely executed editing. The construction of the film is easily its strongest element, though it struggles to overcome the poorly written dialogue. While the narrative jumps are effective, many of the individual scenes contain humor that doesn’t quite land or lines that feel stilted and robotic.
The heart of the film lies in its cast of strange characters. Max believes his fingers to be on the pulse of general counterculture, though as Kath points out his vintage band shirts probably cost him over a hundred dollars. He gets mad when she doesn’t want to have different and exciting experiences, like going to an adult pillow fight or participating in a “dopamine fast.” He’s a bit scarily specific yet almost universally recognizable; everyone knows a guy like Max, and everyone hates that guy. Similarly frustrating to watch is Greta, whose arrogance and constant manipulations almost never fail.
Repeated comments are made to Kath by virtually every other character in the film regarding her age. Her boyfriend is a former student; the younger and hipper couple Al and Greta view her as almost a relic of an older generation. Max suggests often that Kath is lacking in a sense of youthful adventure and isn’t up for the antics of Al and Greta; Greta expresses surprise when Kath says that she’s unmarried. It is only through her surprising connection with the similarly aged Nicholas that these passive aggressions can be investigated, and she acts much more comfortable when she’s with him. There’s a palpable anxiety around age that dominates the film, remaining nuanced and layered until its disappointing and unoriginal finale.
There’s nothing too deep about this film, which makes it a fun watch. Winona Ryder brings her signature Stranger Things anxiety and casual detective vibe, which just makes her so enjoyable on screen. Brianne Tju’s Greta is deeply unsettling and frustrating yet somehow impossible to take your eyes off of, making her the perfect villain. Dermot Mulroney is both parts charming and suspicious as the elusive Nicholas, and his chemistry with Ryder is excellent. By the end of the film, you kind of just want to know what is really happening, but when you do, it’s a bit unsatisfying. Still, the vast majority of the movie is fun and makes your skin crawl just the right amount.
The Cow was viewed in the Narrative Spotlight section of SXSW 2022.
Director: Eli Horowitz
Writer: Eli Horowitz, Matthew Derby
Rated: NR
Runtime: 90m
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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Emmy is a big fan of all things TV and movies. Among her current favorites are The Matrix, Midsommar, Titane, and Fleabag. Catch her on Letterboxd @ewenstrup !
