“God Is a Bullet” feels akin to a forceful strike to the back of your skull. It is uncompromisingly assertive and distinctively conspicuous in its harshness. This brutal frankness, rather regrettably, is not commendable. The movie undertakes the audacious task of fusing elements from bone-chilling road movies and the grittiness of action thrillers. The narrative revolves around Bob Hightower (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), an officer serving in the local sheriff’s department. Hightower is on a relentless pursuit to locate his kidnapped daughter, Gabi (Chloe Guy). While there are segments in the film that cause the audience to gasp in surprise, the film consistently falls short of inspiring a genuine sense of awe.
See Also: Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023) — Movie Review
The movie opens with a fragmented tapestry of seemingly unrelated events. A chilling scene portrays a young girl with a pink balloon. She is Case (Maika Monroe), waiting outside a supermarket, abruptly kidnapped by a group of Satanists. Case grows up to become a tattooed, heroin-addicted follower of the malevolent cult leader Cyrus (Karl Glusman). Subsequently, the narrative shifts to an unknown period, during Christmas. There, a ghastly incident unfolds, reminiscent of the shocking violence in “A Clockwork Orange.” Hightower’s ex-wife is brutally assaulted and murdered, her current husband is killed, and their daughter is abducted. The extreme violence and the perplexing plot, with each gunshot ringing louder than the last, make this sequence intensely discomforting.
The initial scenes of the film appear as a grim attempt by writer/director Nick Cassavetes to submerge viewers into this grisly world. These scenes betray a forced effort to derive tension from the juxtaposition of brutal realism and conscious formalism.
As the film progresses, conflicting tones arise when the unsuspecting Bob seeks the assistance of the hardened Case, a recent defector from the cult now under rehabilitation. Their mission to locate Cyrus’s gang propels them onto the open road in a pickup truck filled with a myriad of weaponry. Their journey leads them to a desert house owned by the Ferryman (Jamie Foxx). The Ferryman is a tattoo artist with an amputated hand and white patches on his face, a symptom of vitiligo. However, the substandard makeup and the overly detailed tattoos on the characters detract from the authenticity. Instead, they stand out as blatant distractions.
Throughout the movie, Cassavetes seems intent on reminding the audience of the film’s artificiality. The inclusion of graphic images depicting bloody Satanic rituals serves as a stark reminder that the narrative, despite being adapted from Boston Teran’s eponymous novel, is fictional. The deliberately slow fight scenes, punctuated by Mozart’s symphonies and slowed down further by editor Bella Erikson, further disrupt the ostensibly realistic road journey. Additionally, the melodramatic performances of Glusman and other actors challenge the audience’s suspension of disbelief.
In theory, “God Is a Bullet” could have emerged as a compelling exploration of faith pitted against a dreadful world. However, Cassavetes’s inflated script disrupts the film’s rhythm and pacing. An entire subplot involving January Jones as the sheriff’s trophy wife is an unnecessary diversion. It could be completely removed without losing any crucial elements. The overemphasis on the character of Cyrus also seems excessive and begs to be pared down.
In its attempt to merge the visual styles of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and the first season of “True Detective,” the film loses its focus. Its portrayal of violence against women, although intended to critique the harsh, indifferent desert environment, veers into the territory of gratuitous and exploitative. Furthermore, Cassavetes’ arty gloss does little to salvage the situation. Instead, the climactic showdown between Bob, Case, and Cyrus comes across as a brutal spectacle attempting to pass off as sophisticated cinema.
Amidst the tumult, the standout performance is undeniably that of Monroe, who breathes life into the character of Case. Having demonstrated her acting in Chloe Okuno’s surveillance thriller “Watcher,” it’s commendable to see her transition into a different role. Her nuanced performance, marked by every turn of her head, her assertive dialogue delivery, and her wide-ranging physicality, strikes a delicate balance between sophistication, vulnerability, and fierceness that Cassavetes seems to aspire to.
Yet, Monroe has the unsatisfying task of delivering the film’s final letdown – a clumsy attempt at projecting normalcy that starkly contrasts with her character’s core inclinations. The neatly tied up conclusion is unsatisfying. It leaves viewers yearning for a more substantive narrative than what Cassavetes manages to provide. If indeed God is a bullet, then one could only wish for a quicker resolution.
