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6.3/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.3/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Narrow Corner remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like movies that feel like a dusty book pulled off a shelf in a house where the fan is broken, you’ll dig this. It’s for the folks who prefer character-driven regret over big plot twists. If you need your movies to be fast, loud, or strictly logical, you will probably hate every minute of it. 🌴
The whole thing has this weird, claustrophobic heat to it. Even though it's set on a big island, everyone is trapped in their own heads. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. is playing that classic 'doomed man' role, and he does it well enough, but it’s the supporting cast that kept me watching.
There’s a scene near the middle where they’re just sitting around drinking, and the dialogue feels so actually tired. It’s not the snappy stuff you see in stuff like Penguin Pool Murder where everyone has a quick comeback. Here, people just sort of mumble into their glasses.
Honestly, the pacing is a bit of a mess. Sometimes the movie stops dead to look at a palm tree or a boat, and you’re just left waiting for someone to say something interesting. It’s not boring, exactly—it’s just… stagnant. Kind of like the weather in the story.
I found myself staring at the background extras more than once. There's this one guy in the background of the port scene who clearly has no idea where he’s supposed to stand. He just keeps shifting his weight back and forth, looking at his shoes. It’s distracting, but in a way that feels oddly human.
It reminds me a bit of the slow-burn energy in The Eagle and the Hawk, but without the high-flying stakes. It's just people being miserable in the sun. Which, honestly, is a mood.
Don't look for a grand moral lesson here. You won't find one. It’s just a snapshot of a guy who made a bad call and is living with it in the worst place possible. Sometimes that's enough for a Friday night, I guess. 🍹
