Manodrome Review | Jesse Eisenberg Will Make Your Head Spin

Summary

• Jesse Eisenberg delivers a strong performance as Ralphie in the chilling psychological thriller Manodrome, showcasing his versatility as an actor.
• The film explores themes of masculinity and sexuality, with Ralphie questioning his own identity and getting caught up in a dangerous men’s group led by Adrien Brody’s character.
• While the plot may be surface-level at moments and some characters needed more screen time, Manodrome offers impressive camerawork and a paranoid atmosphere that is grimly topical.

If you were to juxtapose the opening scene of The Social Network with any dialogue-heavy sequence from Manodrome, you’d see a humorously stark contrast in the way Academy Award-nominated actor Jesse Eisenberg speaks. “Yo, so like, there was this kid, and like…” is just one example of the informal, slang-heavy way in which Ralphie converses in a new chilling new psychological thriller from South African writer-director John Trengove (The Wound). Eisenberg nails this lead role opposite his villain-to-be “Dad Dan,” played well by Oscar-winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist), though it’s not exactly the most challenging role for the versatile actor.

Manodrome is short and sweet, a sort of modern-day Taxi Driver that suffers from a mostly surface-level plot that refuses to be anything but grim. Besides Eisenberg, the other real highlight is Odessa Young playing his pregnant partner — if only we saw more of this potentially breakout performance.

Manodrome Is Just in Time for the Holiday Blues

Manodrome

Release Date November 10, 2023

Director John Trengove

Cast Jesse Eisenberg, Adrien Brody, Odessa Young, Philip Ettinger, Ethan Suplee

Rating R

Runtime 1hr 35min

Main Genre Drama

Eisenberg sports red hair as Ralphie, an Uber driver in New York — and it’s Christmastime! But no, this won’t be the “feel-good movie of the holiday season.” When he’s not driving around obnoxious customers, he’s bodybuilding at the gym and taking mirror selfies to help self-affirm his muscular physique. Is he the utter definition of a “man” because of hobbies like this?

On that note, the film’s title is perhaps pulled from the trending term “manosphere,” which describes groups of guys that form online to try and promote masculinity and even misogyny. No females allowed, to put it mildly. That includes Sal (Young), Ralphie’s super-pregnant lover back at home, who also works a dead-end job. Ralphie has to drive Uber because he and his pal Jason (Philip Ettinger) were just laid off from their Corporate America jobs. Ralphie even steals a young kid’s phone and pawns it for cash after the phone was left in his car.

Lionsgate

Ralphie and Sal struggle to pay for baby supplies as their due date nears. Jason takes note of this and invites Ralphie to check out a new men’s group that’s helped Jason ever since their layoffs. The group is led by Dad Dan (Brody) and others, like Dad Leo (Ethan Suplee). “You’ve got that look like no one’s ever shown up for you,” Dan tells Ralphie. They eat at a restaurant and pay for Ralphie’s meal. They invite him back to their headquarters-type house out in the suburbs and offer support. What could go wrong?

But then, things start to get weird, on both a physical and psychological level. During Ralphie’s meeting, he notices guys introducing themselves as “two years celibate.” One of them even asks Ralphie when he’s going to “dump her a**” in reference to Sal. Plus, Ralphie thinks he’s seeing things out in public. Did a Santa Claus on the street just do something sexually obscene? Are guys hitting on him at the gym? Does he have “the power to create and annihilate,” as emphasized by Dad Dan during one of their creepy rituals at the house? “Come into the circle, Ralphie,” says Dan. Good idea?

Related: The 15 Best Slow-Burn Psychological Thrillers of All Time

You Have to Be All In

The most intriguing moments of Manodrome arrive when Ralphie explores and seems to question his sexuality. He freaks out and stops an Uber ride abruptly once the two guys in the backseat start making out. He follows fellow gym rat Ahmet (Sallieu Sesay) to an abandoned building after a workout, and things turn frisky — and then violent. Ralphie’s “chosen family” may not be all good things, as his relationship with the ever-more-pregnant Sal turns increasingly sour.

Ralphie even witnesses a fellow member of this men’s group named Bradley (Evan Jonigkeit) run into his ex at the mall, and the incredulous woman lashes out about why Bradley just up and disappeared one day. “I’m such an a**hole,” Ralphie repeats again and again after seeing this. What to do? Bail or commit? It’s one life or the other in a situation like this. “You can’t be half a gangster,” was an old tagline for the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. For Ralphie, you can’t be 50% in the manodrome. It’s all or nothing.

Related: 10 Western Movies That Subvert the Toxic Masculinity of the Genre

Other highlights from Manodrome include a tender moment after Ralphie finally returns home to care for the baby son whose birth he sadly missed. He and Sal find themselves singing an a cappella version of Calvin Harris’ hit EDM song “Sweet Nothing,” as they watch the life they created. Manodrome is also heightened by impressive camerawork, with a variety of moving shots throughout. The dark color palette also sheds light (no pun intended) on the grim nature of the story.

It’s hard to imagine a movie like this having any sort of happy ending, but you’ll just have to tune in and find out for yourself. It’s too bad, as mentioned earlier, that we don’t see more of co-stars Young and Brody to show off their performative range. We even see a glimpse of Emmy-nominated actor Lamar Johnson (The Last of Us) as another new member of the men’s club, but that’s it. One wonders if his character had his own little storyline that didn’t make it past the cutting room floor, in an edit which could’ve been superior. Oh, well.

From Lionsgate, Manodrome is now in theaters and will be on demand and digital November 17.

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