To quickly summarize the plot and themes, infinity pool is a peek into the lives of rich people on holiday in poor countries. They outright disrespect and abuse everything around them, from the culture and customs of the country they're in to the other tourists, and they never face consequences.
Specifically, while on holiday in a military guarded compound, Gabi (Mia goth) and her husband decide to toy with our protagonist James (Skarsgard) and his wife by giving them a taste of their specific brand of debauchery. It's made clear that James and his wife are in a loveless relationship, which makes it easy for him to slip up. Hard drugs, swinger parties, killing locals, kidnapping officials, cloning themselves for the purpose of watching those clones get murdered... there's also themes of gentrification and appropriation.
The cloning process mentioned above is actually the "punishment" for the crimes they commit, but by the end it's quite clear that they more than enjoy it as they kill multiple clones throughout the movie.
In the end, James is in too deep into the world of abundant sin without fear of repercussions. The rich characters easily transition back to their normal lives at home once the vacation is over, leaving him to rot with the trauma they caused and the beast they awakened in him. James ends up going back to the resort during the rainy season alone.
This might be a reach but my final observation is that there's also something about confronting and "killing" your weakest self in order to get out of a rut?
An interesting concept with solid themes and great visuals, but in my opinion the execution was lacking and flow was a problem. Often times things were just happening, without any cohesion between adjacent scenes. The inciting incident itself is quite jarring: at about 30-35 minutes in, James is the perpetrator of a hit and run where he's caught shortly after. Then all of the sudden an official just comes in and matter of factly explains to him that as punishment for murdering a local he's being cloned, and that clone will be murdered in front of him. If Brandon tightens up the storytelling juuuuust a tad, I could see him becoming one of my favorite modern filmmakers.
Specifically, while on holiday in a military guarded compound, Gabi (Mia goth) and her husband decide to toy with our protagonist James (Skarsgard) and his wife by giving them a taste of their specific brand of debauchery. It's made clear that James and his wife are in a loveless relationship, which makes it easy for him to slip up. Hard drugs, swinger parties, killing locals, kidnapping officials, cloning themselves for the purpose of watching those clones get murdered... there's also themes of gentrification and appropriation.
The cloning process mentioned above is actually the "punishment" for the crimes they commit, but by the end it's quite clear that they more than enjoy it as they kill multiple clones throughout the movie.
In the end, James is in too deep into the world of abundant sin without fear of repercussions. The rich characters easily transition back to their normal lives at home once the vacation is over, leaving him to rot with the trauma they caused and the beast they awakened in him. James ends up going back to the resort during the rainy season alone.
This might be a reach but my final observation is that there's also something about confronting and "killing" your weakest self in order to get out of a rut?
An interesting concept with solid themes and great visuals, but in my opinion the execution was lacking and flow was a problem. Often times things were just happening, without any cohesion between adjacent scenes. The inciting incident itself is quite jarring: at about 30-35 minutes in, James is the perpetrator of a hit and run where he's caught shortly after. Then all of the sudden an official just comes in and matter of factly explains to him that as punishment for murdering a local he's being cloned, and that clone will be murdered in front of him. If Brandon tightens up the storytelling juuuuust a tad, I could see him becoming one of my favorite modern filmmakers.