Relentlessly edgy filmmaker Harmony Korine is coming off one of the more mainstream runs in his career, with Spring Breakers and The Beach Bum having earned more wide recognition than most of the rest of his work. His latest work, Aggro Dr1ft, inspired both walkouts and cheers upon its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. It’s understandable why — as this experimental picture is divisive by design.
Aggro Dr1ft follows the self-proclaimed “world’s greatest assassin” as he drifts through the criminal underworld of Miami Beach, tormented by demons both metaphorical and literal. If you’re looking for a story in this, you’re coming to the wrong place. There are only enough beats here to give the characters a direction to drift in, and that’s the way it should be.
The best thing about Aggro Dr1ft is that it’s mercifully short at only 80 minutes. If you don’t like it, it will be over before you know it. If you do like it, it doesn’t overstay its welcome or grow monotonous. Korine is self-aware of the fact that he’s undeniably challenging even the most committed of viewers’ patience, so he makes the experience as concise as possible.
Aggro Dr1ft is a great satire of action movie tropes… or is it?
Although Jordi Molla’s assassin might be the official “hero” of the narrative — or at least, what there is of one — the true heroes of Aggro Dr1ft are the infrared cinematography and the score by Araabmuzik. While these elements create an experience of sensory overload that might be headache-inducing to some viewers, those who are more acclimated to the ways of formal experimentation are more likely to be enchanted.
On top of that, Korine utilizes CGI and AI techniques to further distort the image beyond the infrared cinematography. The visuals that result are nightmarish yet alluring, feeling like a dreamscape superimposed onto the landscape of Miami Beach. It’s both gorgeous and disgusting at the same time, making excellent use of juxtaposition.
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The “dialogue” (mostly narration, although there are a few actual dialogue scenes) is incredibly simplistic and extraordinarily repetitive. Seriously, if you made a drinking game and took a shot every time Molla’s narrator says “I am the world’s greatest assassin,” you would have to be carted out of the theater with liver failure. However, if you look at the project as a satire — again, unclear if this was Korine’s actual intention — it successfully skewers the rudimentary nature of most action movie scripts.
Korine also (even if unintentionally) succeeds in skewering the edginess of the action genre. It’s definitely a tad ironic, as Korine is known as a provocateur himself — his new production company, of which Aggro Dr1ft is the first production, is named “EDGLRD,” after all. However, Aggro Dr1ft takes it to the extreme, with seemingly endless twerking, pelvic thrusting while holding swords, and utterances of the word “b*tch.”
Perhaps the biggest mainstream draw of Aggro Dr1ft is the presence of musical artist Travis Scott in the cast, although it’s more of a glorified cameo than a legitimate role. However, given the structure that is designed to wash over you, his one scene (and flashbacks to it) don’t make much of a lasting impression. Indeed, no one scene is meant to stick with you — it’s the experience as a whole that is.
This is all to say, Aggro Dr1ft is not for everyone. Ultimately, Korine seems to think himself that it might be for no one, claiming that it “isn’t a movie,” whatever that means. If it was designed to be taken seriously, it’s an utter failure — but all the signs point to the fact that it probably wasn’t. And if you take it to be a satire that deconstructs the genre’s tropes to their absolute bare minimum, Aggro Dr1ft is probably one of the most fascinating experiments of the year.
Aggro Dr1ft screened at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, which ran September 7-17 in Toronto, Canada.
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Rating: 7/10
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