Pose
Directed by Jamie Adams
Isolated in a grand country manor, a reclusive artist spends a passionate and paranoid weekend with his ex-lover, an obsessive fan, and a potential muse. Hoping to spark a new wave of artistic brilliance over the course of a few tumultuous days, filled with chaos and revelation not all of them will make it out alive.
Pose Ratings & Reviews
- jackmeat7 december 2025My quick rating - 3.4/10. Pose is the kind of movie that arrives at a fancy English manor with a suitcase full of artistic ambition, only to realize, far too late, it forgot to pack an actual story. The story starts and stays simple with Peter (Lucas Bravo) and Patricia (Aisling Franciosi), a pair of artists with a meticulously curated vibe, who retreat to a mansion formerly graced by royalty. The plan? Peter shoots Patricia’s chic pop-album visuals while basking in boutique-candle energy and vintage-sofa aesthetics. Unfortunately, the weekend quickly derails when more guests show up, including Thomas (James McAvoy) and Jemima (Almudena Amor), whose presence kickstarts what the film insists is a psychological game. In reality, it’s more like an awkward dinner party stretched into 90 minutes. That's how things start with a cringingly stilted conversation between the original renters and Thomas' intruding duo - a scene that feels ad-libbed by actors who didn't get each other's lines. Dolly (Leila Farzad) clearly knows more than she’s letting on, but every bit of subtext gets treated like nuclear launch codes in this movie. You could practically hear the script, like a throat-clearing librarian, "Pay attention… something profound is happening, here," as absolutely nothing profound happens. The film also makes a recurring stylistic choice where characters sit silently while their voice can be heard. I’m sure somewhere in a production meeting, this was labeled “artsy,” but in practice, it plays like the editor misplaced half the footage. Whenever a particularly dramatic line comes from a completely unrelated shot, you start wondering whether your streaming service accidentally desynced. I found the real issue is that nothing in Pose ever sparks any emotional investment. These characters could have been played by McAvoy, ten clones of McAvoy, or an ensemble cast made entirely of Oscar winners, and it still wouldn’t have infused the script with meaning. It’s dull, pretentious, and so self-serious it almost dares you to yawn. The movie has a thematic point - a delicate one, even - but it withholds it until the final thirty seconds, as if the reveal will retroactively upgrade everything before it. Spoiler: it doesn’t. I was only slightly wrong about where things were heading, but only because the film tosses a last-minute curveball for the sake of appearing clever. Or more likely, to wake the audience up. As a thriller, it contains exactly zero thrills. The tension levels rarely rise above mild social discomfort. The pacing is sedated, the chemistry nonexistent, and the dialogue heavy without ever feeling weighty. Even as an experimental piece, Pose just doesn’t have the momentum or edge to justify its own artistic choices. McAvoy does what he can, and he’s always fun to watch, but even he can’t revive a film that flatlines this early and never checks its own pulse.
- ricomckee16 december 2025Incomprehensible dribble that wastes talent. This movie make you wonder if James McAvoy made a deal with the devil and had to be forced to do this film. Makes no sense whatsoever.
- Just4Fun6 december 2025James McAvoy appears to favour this style of film but I believe it is time he explored new narratives. I will summarise the plot for your convenience: it is a predictable, unremarkable story and never really gets going.
Pose Trivia
Pose was released on 4 juli 2025.
Pose was directed by Jamie Adams.
Pose has a runtime of 77m.
Pose was produced by Rebecca Miller, Cara Shine Ballarini, Shaun S. Sanghani, Bannor Michael MacGregor.
Isolated in a grand country manor, a reclusive artist spends a passionate and paranoid weekend with his ex-lover, an obsessive fan, and a potential muse. Hoping to spark a new wave of artistic brilliance over the course of a few tumultuous days, filled with chaos and revelation not all of them will make it out alive.
The key characters in Pose are Thomas (James McAvoy), Peter (Lucas Bravo), Dolly (Leila Farzad).
Pose is a Thriller, Action film.
Pose has an audience rating of 1.5 out of 10.