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Zack Snyder's 'The Last Photograph' Review: A Dull, Grotesquely Violent Thriller
Confirmed
In Short: Zack Snyder's latest film, 'The Last Photograph,' is a disappointing departure from his typical superhero fare.
Zack Snyder's latest film, 'The Last Photograph,' is a disappointing departure from his typical superhero fare. According to reports, the film is Snyder's most intimate and grounded project to date, but it fails to live up to its potential. The film follows ex-DEA agent Ethan Black, played by Stuart Martin, who is on a mission to track down the killers of his love interest, a woman he photographed before her death. Despite Snyder's efforts to create a more human action drama, the film is described as a tedious and frustrating experience by critics.
Critics have been panning Snyder's movies for two decades, with 'The Last Photograph' being no exception. According to Cosmic Book News, the film is grotesque, shameless, and an utter disgrace from start to finish. The film's world premiere at TIFF was met with brutal reactions, with some critics calling it one of the worst films to ever play the festival. Despite Snyder's passion project, the film is described as a dull, grotesquely violent revenge thriller that fails to deliver on its promise.
Despite the negative reception, Snyder remains committed to his vision. According to Awards Radar, while Snyder clearly believes he has made something more profound and artful than his previous work, the result is a tedious, frustrating, and grueling experience. The film is described as easily the worst film seen at the festival so far by Matt Neglia, a critic who offered one of the sharper assessments. The film's fate remains uncertain, with Snyder joking that it might be the only time the film is ever shown to an audience.
What's confirmed
- ZACK SNYDER'S "THE LAST PHOTOGRAPH" is grotesque, shameless and an utter disgrace from start to finish.
- The Last Photograph is daring departure for Zack Snyder from his typical filmmaking, creating a more intimate story anchored in photography and brought to life by his striking cinematography and Hans Zimmer’s musical score.
- It is Snyder at his most unfiltered, with no studio intervention and is the films largest problem.
- It's desperate to be Snyder's 'Civil War', but feels like Daily Wire slop… pic.twitter.com/WPYH8tvuIi The Last Photograph: about 90 minutes of it is a brutal, unrelenting thriller.
What's still developing
- That said, though, it’s good to see Snyder trying something so far out of his wheelhouse (well, at least a bit far out of it), sharpening his sometimes rusty storytelling skills without the safety net of superhero pyrotechnics.
- Rather, it is the fact that his sister-in-law — the woman in what will become a series of several “last” photographs, each with their own personal meaning — was the love of his life, leaving him after their one illicit fling with a Polaroid bearing the cryptic line “This is a photograph from that other world”.
- Bent on tracking down the killers, Ethan flies over and heads to the photographic agency that represents Joe’s work.
- Hilariously, the film begins with a topless woman having sex with Joseph while he shoots a photograph of a non-existent butterfly.
- But even though I do like what Snyder has done for the most part, I’m a realist about his stuff that doesn’t work, such as his disastrous Rebel Moon flicks for Netflix.
- Fellow Rebel Moon actor Fra Fee plays Joseph Wallace, a drug-addicted photographer who was there to witness the killings, and took the final photograph of the woman Ethan loves.
- Debuting in TIFF ‘s “special events” section, The Last Photograph is an action thriller that Snyder directed from a screenplay by Kurt Johnstad, who co-wrote Snyder’s previous two features, 2023’s Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire and 2024’s Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver.
- I usually like Snyder’s movies well enough, though rarely are over the moon for them.