The Swan movie review: Wes Anderson’s new Roald Dahl adaptation for Netflix is his first real horror film

Once again, Anderson has kept most of Dahl’s story intact, giving new meaning to the words ‘faithful adaptation’. Friend not only participates in the plot, he also narrates it. He does all the little character voices, and doesn’t omit the ‘he said’ and ‘he cried’ at the end of sentences in which words are spoken and exclamations made. That Peter is recalling his own trauma adds another layer of complexity to the story — does he feel anger, is he resentful or has he made peace with what happened?

Peter was minding his own business that day, observing birds through a pair of binoculars, when two boys named Ernie and Raymond interrupted his quiet afternoon. Brandishing a gun that they’d just gained possession of, they tied Peter’s hands and forced him to lay down on the railway tracks. He cowered in fear as a train steamed over him at top speed. Next, they poked at him to pretend he’s a dog, all at gunpoint, and made him retrieve the carcass of a duck. Things only kept escalating from there.

As the film progresses, Friend’s narration and manner becomes more tense; he begins to speak as if he is running out of time, hurtling towards a climax that he is all too familiar with. This is an excellent performance, and barring the brief reappearance of Ralph Fiennes at the end as Dahl and a handful of silent cameos by the kids who play Peter and his two bullies, Friend is the film’s sole star. A scene in which he remembers a moment of horrific violence, crucially perpetrated not against him but another living being, is utterly shattering.

There is something deeply personal that Anderson, notorious for directing at what seems like an arm’s length, has been able to accomplish with both Henry Sugar and this. You can tell why he has been fascinated with these stories for two decades; he doesn’t come across as the sort of person who’d have fit in as a child. This is as much a passion project for him as Silence was for Martin Scorsese; as much a therapy session as Aftersun was for Charlotte Wells. The collection doesn’t have a name yet, and it is unclear if it ever will, but it is quickly shaping up to be among the most admirable achievements in American movie-making this year — a singular voice delivering pure expression, formally and thematically.

As immaculate as Anderson’s framing can typically be — The Swan, incidentally, has been shot by Roman Coppola and not his usual cinematography Robert Yeoman — it is possible to watch both Henry Sugar and The Swan with your eyes closed, and appreciate them for entirely different reasons. Dahl most famously tackled similar themes in Matilda, but The Swan feels like a deeply cynical alternative to that story’s comforting fantasy. But it is just as vital.

The Swan
Director – Wes Anderson
Cast – Rupert Friend, Ralph Fiennes
Rating – 5/5