(taken from the trailer)
So, I wasn't expecting to like this movie going into it- it seemed as if it was just going to be some lazy criticism of Millenials given what I had read about it. After I had watched it, I wasn't completely sure how I felt about it. However, the more I think about it the more I really like and admire what Sofia Coppola accomplished with this movie.
There are a lot of parallels to be drawn between The Great Gatsby and The Bling Ring- both are, of course, examinations of the privilege and excess of the very wealthy. The Great Gatsby was written about a time period in which it suddenly seemed as if anyone could join the ranks of the wealthy, and The Bling Ring tackles the increasingly accessible nature of fame.
There is a pervasive emptiness to the entire movie. There are plenty of scenes of beautiful young people partying and basking in the spoils of the very wealthy. However, these scenes don't end up being particularly titillating- it's hard for the audience to feel particularly envious of the lives of the protagonists, given that their existences seem absurdly superficial and meaningless. The actions of the "Bling Ring", and their lives in general, are motivated by nothing but the voracious desire for fame and possessions. Any introspection falls on the shoulders of the viewers- the characters are too entrenched in their careless and destructive lives, and there is no Nick Carraway to shake his head in disgust at the end of the movie; the closest the movie comes is maybe the scene in which Mark stands in line with the other prisoners, completely stripped away of anything from his previous life.
You might find this a hard movie to watch, given that it's difficult to feel sympathy for anyone in this movie; the "victims" of the protagonists seem to be guilty of the same reckless consumption we see played out on screen. However, I think that Coppola manages to produce criticism that is understated and vital.
