This was a super bizarre film.
Celeste (played by Raffey Cassidy as a teenager and Natalie Portman as an adult) survives a wicked school shooting and nearly dies herself, leaving a bullet lodged in her spine. But she turns that pain into a song, which goes viral before YouTube even exists.
But Celeste and her sister, Ellie (Stacy Martin) aren't the small-town girls they appear to be, both into heavy partying, underage drinking and experiments with drugs, but Ellie is able to leave that behind while Celeste cannot.
The narrator (Willem Dafoe) refers in a near-tragic accident where Celeste is high on household cleaners (you can drink those and survive?) and gets behind the wheel and runs over a pedestrian who fortunately survives, but this incident is only referred to as the second half of the film opts to focus on the opening night of her new tour, which coincides with another mass shooting (this one in Europe) and the nasty shooters happen to be wearing masks which were also worn by Celeste in her first hit music video.
Now, the plot is bizarre and I feel like huge parts are missing. But Portman is magnificent in a role very different than Jackie Kennedy or Nina Sayers or Jane Jones. However, she really has the only colorful role and completely stands out in a cast of basically stock characters.
However, this film is also different as it has a French new wave feel to it though it also distinctly American. And who is Celeste? She is a mix between Sia (who penned some of the songs) and Lady Gaga (calling her fans Angels instead of Little Monsters) and it doesn't actually matter if she can sing or not because the lyrics are so auto-tuned it doesn't matter.
Unfortunately, this film could have been great and Celeste is a character who says stuff that matters but she's lost under all the make-up and booze and other illegal drugs. The dynamic between the sisters is one of the giant plot holes that needs fleshed out better. This film was a noble effort but it just ultimately, had too many mistakes to be special or extraordinary. Grade: B-
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