This article appeared in the May 21, 2025 edition of The Film Comment Letter, our free weekly newsletter featuring original film criticism and writing. These characterizations lack profundity (in part due to the fact that the most compelling players, including Stone’s Louise, lack substantial screen time). Phoenix’s edgy, ridiculous, but also oddly poignant performance makes this masculine spiraling entertaining at the very least. Throughout the film, Betty and Laura are seen painting the house’s picket fence white—a symbolic expression of Laura’s restorative effect on the rest of the characters. As such, you can probably guess whom Laura is replacing, making the climactic revelation seem like an underwhelming fulfillment of fate.