Our take
At first glance, DTF St. Louis seemed to be a nonchalant comedy that would poke fun at domestic dissatisfaction. David Harbour’s Floyd Smernitch meets Jason Bateman’s Clark Forrest, Floyd saves Clark from an injury, and it seemed like they would be buddies as they hang by the swings and talk about an app for affairs. That is, until Floyd turns up dead. It becomes a different story altogether. Those expecting a quick, snarky comedy might be taken aback, but the turnaround, non-linear narrative emphasizes how unsettling our expectations in sex and relationships can actually get. DTF St. Louis won’t be for everyone– you’ll see many who dropped it because of the slow burn– but it knows what we expect, and still keeps us guessing.
Streaming arrival
The story
A love triangle among three adults experiencing middle-age malaise leads to one of them ending up dead.
Elsewhere
"A strange, surreal, surpassingly dark addition to Bateman’s œuvre. He’s cast well in the show -- I can’t imagine it working without his presence, reeking of ennui and buried impulses."
— Vinson Cunningham
"It’s an ideal blend of character drama and murder-mystery, and the way Conrad frames their lives — with the camera tilting up from the smooth black pavement of a residential street or the jagged brown grass of a neglected lawn — is equally absorbing."
— Ben Travers
The details
Who picked it
Isabella Endrinal is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. She's now free from the corporate night shift. Previous articles have been published in outlets such as NANG Magazine. She's currently catching up on some classic films… if she isn't coping with the fact that the Haikyu anime will end soon.
