Among the more riveting sequences shows Musgraves literally in pieces. She does spare viewers the gore: They’re all parts of a mannequin, except for her dismembered head, which is blithely singing “Camera Roll,” one of the 15 tracks on the new album.
Both the 50-minute fever dream of a film, which Musgraves co-wrote and executive produced, and the long-awaited album are set for release this Friday, and on Tuesday night, she hosted a private screening for friends and industry insiders at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
Kacey Musgraves.Star-crossed: the film
Musgraves has made no secret thatthe end to her almost three-year marriagein July 2020 has provided the primary source material for both album and film, and there’s a temptation to call these her “divorce projects.” But even more so, they’re artful meditations on heartbreak, and in her brief remarks onstage to introduce the film, Musgraves affirmed that assessment.
“I’m really thankful,” she said, “for the opportunity to transform trauma into beauty.”
And she added, like any nervous first-time filmmaker, “I hope you guys really enjoy this. I hope it doesn’t suck!”
Musgraves needn’t have worried. The film was rewarded with a standing ovation from the 200 or so in the audience, which included fellow TexanMaren Morrisand her artist husband,Ryan Hurd;John andTJ Osborneof theBrothers Osborne,Lindsay Ell,BRELANDandFancy Hagood,as well as Musgraves' new beau,Cole Shafer,a Nashville advertising copywriter and poet.
Kacey Musgraves.Sophia Matinazad
Indeed, Musgraves and director Bardia Zeinali (who’s worked withJustin Bieber,Dua LipaandShawn Mendes,among others) have fashioned a phantasmagoria in three acts, loosely depicting the before, during and after of a marriage. Ten of the album’s dreamy, vibey songs are prominently featured throughout, along with snippets of three more.
The film is populated with a carnival troupe’s worth of colorful characters; what’s conspicuously missing, however, is any depiction of a husband. And yet all ofStar-Crossedrevolves around that absence. Musgraves portrays a series of maritally related roles — groomless bride, marauding bridal-shop vandal, Stepford wife-in-training — before experiencing a head-on car crash that leaves her literally shattered. Once an ambulance team retrieves her body parts, she’s reassembled, and her broken heart is revived.
The film’s final third is a wild pastiche of past, present and future, featuring Musgraves in a foot race with a horse, at a church dance party, and undergoing a ceremonial costume change — all hastened along with ample assistance from an unspecified pharmaceutical.
Schitt’s CreekdadEugene Levypops up as a hands-off surgeon; his mere appearance elicited laughter from Tuesday night’s crowd. Musgraves also drops Easter egg-ish film references with the Lancaster, California, chapel that was featured inKill Billand a snippet fromOlivia Hussey’sdeath scene in the 1968 version ofRomeo and Juliet. Cast member Diane Venora, who plays multiple roles, is an Easter egg herself: The veteran actor portrayed Juliet’s mother in 1996’sRomeo + Juliet.
source: people.com
