Film Review: INFAMOUS (2020): A Well-written Modern Day Bonnie & Clyde From Joshua Caldwell

Infamous Review

Infamous (2020) Film Review, a movie directed and written by Joshua Caldwell, and starring Bella Thorne, Jake Manley, and Amber Riley.

Infamous is a crime drama that follows a young couple who embark on a crime spree while traveling across the country and gaining social media fame in the process. The film brings to light what a modern-day Bonnie & Clyde would look like if they stepped into the world of social media obsessed culture.

As soon as the film begins, we’re introduced to our main character, Arielle, who is about to get caught by police and leads us into the film with the words, “I always knew I was going to be famous.” We’re taken to where it all began but either way, the audience already knows how the film will end for Arielle, who’s played exquisitely by a scene-stealing Bella Thorne. Arielle is a girl from Florida who isn’t happy with her life but would do anything to be famous and noticed. She pines for fame as she constantly goes through her social media dashboard and can’t help but be jealous of others with thousands of likes on posts. She’s a bit of a firecracker, which ignites constantly throughout the film but it isn’t until money she saved up is stolen from her, where we see her first angry blow up. She barges into her mother’s room, where her mother is with her piece of crap boyfriend, who Arielle is convinced stole it. Thorne’s performance in this scene really set the tone for the journey the audience was about to embark on with her character. It was like something had finally just set the character off for good and from then on, she just wanted to rage. You could feel her anger boiling within her as you watch the scene, making the scene just that more entertaining. The film is very fast-paced from beginning to end so right after her rage scene, we’re brought into another turn of unfortunate events that turn deadly which cause her and new boyfriend ex-con, Dean (portrayed by Jake Manley), to go on the run.

However, in dire need of money, the pair decide to rob a gas station. Arielle had never done anything like that prior but as she experiences it for the first time and records it, it awakens something within her. It inspires her to make a new Instagram account, posting the crime but without showing their faces. This starts an ongoing string of robberies which are too, posted online and with each new post, the more of a following the couple gets on social media. Again, the film is very fast paced so we get to the point of each turn quicker, never really having a dull moment with the couple or as we watch the story unfold, especially with Thorne’s scene-stealing acting in nearly every scene she’s in. The more erratic and over the top her character is, the more fun it gets watching her. Even when the couple are arguing about the trouble they could get into versus how much more followers they’re getting with each robbery, you can’t help but love Thorne and Manley as they go at it. Watching them going from sexually and spiritually in sync to their personalities clashing and causing arguments, it becomes more of a story of what’s more important, their lives or fame. Both having very different answers and that’s becoming clearer to Dean the more power hungry and unpredictable Arielle gets,  seeing just how far she’d really go to keep her social media fame status. Arielle has transformed into a clout hungry millennial driven by power and Dean really see’s how deep that hunger is for the fame when she gets shot on reckless solo robbery and wants him to take a picture of her while she poses for the camera proudly, despite the bounty on their head. Her response to his confusion being, “Do you know how many likes this will get?”

The film eventually catches up to the opening scene and we come to Arielle’s big satisfied conclusion when she ultimately gets what she wanted, fame. You’re left with curiosity on whether or not she had even cared about Dean in the first place. Was it all worth it for her? Based on the wink she gives the audience at the end of the film, the answer is yes. I think the film was relatable for this generation; to be released in an age where millennial’s are ultimately doing anything to stay relevant on social media, literally anything. Sure, they haven’t taken it as far as Arielle and Dean did, but who says they’re not capable of it? The script of the film was very modern, up to date with currently used popular phrases and captured the mannerisms of today’s millennial’s, but it also gave a Bonnie and Clyde type vibe to the story. Great script, relevant topics in today’s age, and Bella’s acting is what sold the movie for me.

Rating: 9/10

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