This Newly Added 2013 Thriller Is One Of Netflix’s Best Buried Treasures
This week, Netflix added a great but underrated movie from 2013 that works just as well.
Sofia Coppola‘s Bling ring a dark comedy crime film based on a real-life criminal gang known as the “Bling Ring.”
Features of the film Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga, Leslie Mann again Paris Hilton.
Misunderstood and neglected at the time, Bling ring it’s a sharper satire on celebrity culture than contemporary critics gave it credit for.
Watch With Us explains why it’s worth your time, and why you need to stream it this week.
‘The Bling Ring’ Is Based On A Crazy True Story
Bling ring follows a group of down-on-their-luck, fame-obsessed LA teenagers, including Marc (Israel Broussard), Rebecca (Katie Chang), Nicki (Emma Watson) and Sam (Taissa Farmiga), who started breaking into celebrity homes together, stealing their jewelry, clothes, cash and other valuables. Using the Internet, the group is able to track the whereabouts of celebrities and when they will be away from home, allowing them to come in and out with weapons full of stolen goods, which they often resell.
The movie was inspired by the real-life Bling Ring as it was written in 2010 Vanity Fair article titled “The Suspects Wore Loubouins” by Nancy Jo Sales. Each character is based on a real person: Nick Prugo, Rachel Lee, Tess Taylor, Alexis Neiers and others. The real Bling Ring robbed the homes of several celebrities over the course of a year, between 2008 and 2009, and their victims included Paris Hilton, Audrina Patridge, Orlando Bloom, Megan Fox again Lindsay Lohan. In the end, the thieves had lost an estimated $3 million in property, although they were eventually caught and all received various sentences.
A Prescient Satire of Internet Celebrity Culture
Emma Watson and Leslie Mann in The Bling Ring.
Merrick Morton/©A24/courtesy Everett CollectionAt the time, critics felt that Sofia Coppola was taking an ambiguous approach in portraying The Bling Ring, not doing enough to criticize the actions of the characters in her film. Years later, however, more savvy and media-literate viewers are keenly aware of the film’s sharp satire. It ends on a note that wouldn’t be too damning if it tried: in a talk show, 30 days after her release from prison, Nicki recounts that she is in a correctional facility that housed Lohan at the same time, then she faces the camera and happily promotes her website.
But even before this time, the film does a great job of showing the ever-bending barrier between fans and celebrities in the early days of social media. Celebrity myths have now been debunked by apps like TikTok, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, with fans having an unprecedented level of access to the inner lives of famous people. Therefore, Coppola does something disturbing in his film – he sympathizes with the perpetrators of the crimes depicted and lays a subtle blame on the hacking systems that exist, which promote the virtual right to cross borders.
Emma Watson Gives the Best Performance of Her Career
Emma Watson in the Bling Ring.
Merrick Morton/©A24/courtesy Everett CollectionEmma Watson has had a hard time trying to establish a confident acting career separate from her childhood fame Harry Potter franchise, and has seen mixed results in similar movies Little Women, Beauty and The beast again Noah. However, she provides the clear high point of her film as Nicki Moore (AKA Neiers) in Bling Ring, and the critics were right to nominate him as the best actor in the movie.
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Watson’s performance defied any notions at the time that hers was a stunt act, sporting the kind of goody-two-shoes she had cultivated over the years playing Hermione Granger. Indeed, Watson goes from brain to brain in portraying Nicki, but she absolutely proves her range playing the party girl and celebrity wannabe, evoking the dead-eyed, LA-girl narcissism she was born with. Watson turns lines like “Your butt looks so good” and “I wanna booty” into funny, meme-worthy gold, delivering it with a little bit of sincerity and fun.
Broadcast Bling ring on Netflix.
