Review of Master Gardener (2023) by Jluis_001 — 09 Jun 2023

Paul Schrader's Master Gardener seemed to me to be a film that plays with variants with which he doesn't know what to do by not letting us know what he wants to say with his plot outside the predictable path of redemption.

And you can feel many detestable things towards his protagonist, I never thought Schrader intended us to feel pity or empathy for him, but at least a certain degree of compassion.

The concept, of course, aims broadly at provocation, but never in a cheap or simplistic way, but rather thinking about what it means to start over even with the brutal and hateful baggage its main character carries and, above all, what forgiveness implies, and if not forgiveness, then at least understanding and acceptance.

Joel Edgerton is an excellent actor, but I don't think the role was properly suited for him.

It's not that he has trouble expressing his emotions according to what the script requires, it's just that for some reason he never comes across as entirely believable.

Master Gardener follows the same conceptual line of his last two films, First Reformed and The Card Counter. They are practically sister films with three tormented male protagonists burdened with their demons, but out of the three this one is the weakest, yet that doesn't mean it isn't worthy.