Review: Electra

12 September, 2025 William Eguizabal 0 Comments 2 categories

Title: Electra
MPA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Hala Matar
Starring: Maria Bakalova, Daryl Wein, Abigail Cowen
Runtime: 1 hr 25 mins

What It Is: Dylan (Wein) and his girlfriend Lucy (Cowen) are in Italy to interview musician Milo (Jack Farthing). At first, everything seems fairly standard. But when Dylan and Milo sit down for the interview, a friendship begins to bloom. However, not everything—or everyone—is what they seem. As the interview transforms into a weekend at a villa, the lies and mistruths start to unravel, and things are about to get really weird.

What We Think: I have to say, this film lives and dies on how you feel about the lead characters—and for me, they were irritating. In particular, when the film’s mask finally comes off, the face we see isn’t all that interesting. Some viewers might even see it coming, and if you do, it feels pretty much worthless. The film tries very hard to be graceful and sophisticated, but sadly it comes across as gauche and exorbitant to an almost unbearable degree—pretentious and unfunny. That said, the acting is really strong, even if the material doesn’t quite support it. Ultimately, it’s just missing something.

Our Grade: C-, There’s definitely a different spin to this, and it might work for some—but it didn’t land all that well for me. Maria Bakalova has made so many interesting choices in her career, but this isn’t one of the most compelling. In fact, it’s one of the few times where her character rubbed me the wrong way.

Listen—you can watch this if you want, since it’s available on Prime Video, but honestly, there are too many options out there for something this blasé to really hit the way it should. That said, Hala Matar is the real star here. Her direction is easily the most interesting part of the whole film, and her background as a music video director is unmistakable.