Winner (2024) has an interesting base concept, really good technical direction, and the lead actress is fantastic. The problems come from the little details of the plot, with some things happening ridiculously quickly, others way too slowly, and almost every other character outside of Chloe being such an extreme exaggeration.
Alex (Emille Lacsa) has absolutely no nuance; whatever the worst thing the character can say is, that's what he says. The same goes for the mother (Corinne Kelly) who seems just as emotionally abusive towards Chloe as Alex. The movie so exaggerates the two's negative qualities that eventually they become caricatures instead of real characters.
The main plot is pretty melodramatic. There's not only blackmail, but also a snake venom threat, which is straight out of an old pulp mystery novel. I really liked the overall concept, but not every piece of the puzzle fits together. It's mostly little things - like the pacing and the way no one seems to think the blackmailer's methods are strange - but there's enough of them that the movie just feels jumbled.
Having said all of that, Koko Marshall is electric to watch as Chloe. She's the most naturalistic of the entire cast and even when she has bizarre dialogue, it comes out sounding believable. The technical production was also great; editing, sound, lighting, camera angles, all of it felt polished. The whole movie takes place mostly in one small room, so it could have quickly become visually stale if the production team hadn't known what they were doing, but they definitely did.
Basically, it's a well-directed movie with a very talented lead, but the script is not as developed as I'd have liked.
