Charlie Says focuses on three of the women in the Manson Family, Leslie “Lulu” Van Houten, Patricia “Katie” Krenwinkel, and Susan “Sadie” Atkins - played by Hannah Murray, Sosie Bacon, and Marianne Rendon, respectively - from the time they join the Family, all the way until the murder of Sharon Tate, under the influence of Charles Manson, here played by Matt Smith. The film is told from their perspective while they are in prison, still under Manson’s influence, where a writer named Karlene, played by Merritt Wever, tries to convince them of the true nature of their atrocities.
While the whole point of this framing device was to contrast the women’s personalities between the two time periods, these scenes ultimately felt like they weren't needed, because they never truly achieved said point. At first, these moments are humorous, mainly for the fact that the three women act in unison like parrots, blindly spouting the nonsense Manson fed them, consistently saying one right after another, “Charlie says this” and “Charlie says that,” to the annoyance of the prison staff. However, these quickly grow tiresome, as this essentially becomes the schtick that drives all these scenes, and there isn’t much that distinguishes one scene from the next.
Even though the movie is meant to show how Manson brainwashed Lulu, Katie, and Sadie, there really isn’t much characterization to them beyond that. They don’t have anything that stands out about them before they joined the Manson Family, and despite what the movie implies, there’s never a sense that they truly grasped the severity of their actions in the “present day" sequences. Outside of the brief time they’re seen pre-Manson with no personality whatsoever, they are otherwise the exact same people from beginning to end.
And when the prison sequences aren’t focused on them, it dedicates a fair amount of time to Karlene, who is nothing more than a stock character. Her entire purpose is to serve the other three women’s stories. Even when there are scenes where she’s by herself, all she does is say to other characters how she wants to help the other women. She has one goal, and the movie dedicates a fair amount of scenes to her just stating that goal to either other minor characters or the three women themselves.
This ultimately leads to the movie’s biggest problem. This is a very one-note movie. Most of the scenes are either one of three scenarios: Manson rambling to his followers and engaging in sexual activities with them, the three lead characters repeating what Manson just told them, and Karlene saying how she wants to help them. Every so often, there may be a break from this structure - including a brief recreation of the Tate murders - but even then, these scenes never really feel like they have a point. It recycles the same three scenarios, and there never feels like the characters have an actual journey or some sort of arc.
And this would have all been somewhat forgivable if any of these scenes did anything to hold people’s interest, but they’re all in fact very boring. The visual style is incredibly dull, which is somewhat shocking, considering this is directed by Mary Harron, who directed the much more vivid American Psycho. However unlike American Psycho, the color palette of this movie is consistently dark and dreary. While there is supposed to be a sense of dread that’s meant to come from what Manson eventually orders his followers to do, that sense is never truly felt. Rather than keeping the audience on the edge of their seat, it simply feels gloomy and depressing.
At times, it’s even difficult to tell what’s truly going on, especially in many of the Manson sequences, as they all take place in dark rooms. These scenes never feel lit properly so that the characters’ movements can be distinguished from the background. There are times where there will be some extreme closeups where someone’s actions may be partially blocked out, leaving more of a disoriented feel. And they’ll also feel anticlimactic in a sense. The soundtrack, which is solid for how eerie it is, never truly fits with what actually happens in the movie. The background music will build up this suspenseful feel as if Manson is going to lash out at someone, but they mainly end with Manson engaging in some sort of consensual activity - mainly of a sexual nature - with one of his followers.
And even when it’s a little easier to tell what is going on, they’re still not visually appealing. Many sequences consist of just static shots of characters sitting around and talking. Character A speaks, then it cuts to a shot of Character B speaking, then cuts back to Character A when they speak. And all everyone does in this movie is just explain how they feel, and go over the same topics repeatedly. No one really shows how they’re feeling, which defeats the whole purpose of film being a visual medium.
And it’s a shame because the movie wastes the talents of normally reliable actors, as they’re all given nothing to work with. Hannah Murray is only given two things to do this entire movie - repeat whatever Manson says, and react anytime Manson does anything. And it feels like she’s trying. There are times early on where the look on her face shows she’s a bit conflicted when she first deals with Manson, but she never gets to do anything more complex beyond that as she quickly gives in to Manson’s antics.
Merritt Wever also feels like she’s giving it her all to make Karlene sound compelling, but all she’s really given to do is just plead with the Manson women. And to just see her repeat her case over and over again eventually feels boring. Meanwhile, none of the other women truly get their chance to stand out, through no fault of their own. It’s hard to name one memorable thing that Sosie Bacon, Marianne Rendon, or Suki Waterhouse do in this entire movie. They wind up just blending into the group scenes rather than really getting their moment to shine, mostly just reacting to Matt Smith or following Murray’s lead.
Smith, meanwhile, does a fine job as Manson, which is probably one of the movie’s biggest draws, considering it’s a stark contrast from his time as the likable title character in Doctor Who. He really immerses himself the role and there are hints that he would play a great antagonist, as he gives off what’s easily the most energetic of the performances. But even though he has the highest energy, he still feels incredibly restrained.
Manson was a raving lunatic in real life who had appeal, but this portrayal consists of him just rambling to his followers at one consistent tone that’s simply just a higher energy than any of the other characters. It would have been intriguing to see Manson portrayed in a more over-the-top matter in order to show how he still managed to appeal to so many of his followers, as well as allow him to stand out more. But while the performance is committed, the character is reduced to just a series of rants that never have anything truly unique about them.
Charlie Says is an outright miserable experience. Rather than really get into the psyche of either the Manson Family women or show what made the truly insane Manson sound so appealing, the movie is just a series of repetitive scenes of characters speaking about how they feel without ever truly having a journey or an arc. While it has some talented actors who do try, they are all given nothing to work with here, and their performances can’t save the repetitive scenes and boring dialogue. It’s gloomy, visually dull, and ultimately feels like it has no purpose, making it feel like a total waste of time.
Recommendation: Kill It With Fire
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