‘One of the best movies of the 2020s’ with Oscar-winning star now streaming for free
Netflix has just added a gripping drama film that’s widely considered one of the best films of the 2020s with a career-best performance from a Hollywood A-lister
by Lucas Hill-Paul · The MirrorA critically acclaimed modern epic released in 2022 has finally been made available to Netflix subscribers at no extra cost.
In addition to receiving rave reviews at its time of release, it has also been named one of the best films of the decade so far.
Starring Cate Blanchett in a career-defining role, she scored her eighth Academy Award nomination for her performance which left audiences in awe.
Now, movie buffs have another chance to be blown away now the arresting and challenging drama film Tar has been made available to stream on Netflix.
From director Todd Field, Blanchett stars in the title role of Lydia Tar, a formidable composer at the top of her game whose career comes crashing down around her following a scandal.
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film five stars, writing Blanchett is a “perfect lead in delirious, sensual drama” and “her performance will pierce you like a conductor’s baton through the heart”.
The Independent also sang the film’s praises, observing: “Tar is essentially about our current moment, and all the whirlpools of discourse around #MeToo and ‘cancel culture’, but rarely in a way that feels like a polemic or a pat on the back.
“It answers the question of ‘should we separate the art from the artist?’ by laying bare how impossible a demand that is.”
A poll of 100 critics by World of Reel placed the film in the number two spot, right behind Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning smash-hit Oppenheimer.
Collider also included it on their recent list of the 35 best movies of the 2020s, writing: “Tar might feel like a biographical film about a divisive figure within the world of music known as Lydia Tar, especially given how real Cate Blanchett, in the lead role, makes the titular character feel.”
In a recent Reddit thread of the best movies of the decade so far, several viewers named Tar amongst their favourites.
“Tar or Another Round; it’s hard to decide,” one person wrote, to which another replied: “Tar was so damn good.”
Letterboxd user Zoe Rose Bryant also championed Blanchett’s performance as possibly one of the best in cinema history, writing: “It’s not hyperbole to say that Cate Blanchett gives maybe one of the greatest performances I’ve EVER seen in Todd Field’s Tar…
“A chilling character study of a famed conductor and her fall from grace - fueled by her own hubris and self-obsession - directed with Kubrickian control.
“At 158 minutes, it may be seem like a daunting and demanding watch to some, but there wasn’t a single second where I wasn’t entirely enthralled.”
And user Wes agreed Blanchett gives “one of her best, if not her single best performance”, adding Tar is “one of the most astonishingly directed and achingly made films in recent years.”
Will you be following Tar’s lead this week?
Tar is available to stream on Netflix.