Violet & Daisy is about two teenage girl assassins on a difficult job. Violet & Daisy is what would happen if Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson mentored the same film intern. Violet & Daisy capitalizes on the dissonance that post-modern audiences have grown to love: people who are usually victims are actually serious threats. The characters are obsessed with a pop star and designer dresses, but they also enjoy killing lots of men in elaborate disguises. It is clear that no matter how superficial and unbothered these best friends pretend to be, they are still affected by their business partnership and are suppressing a lot of past trauma that could destroy themselves and their relationship.
The world of Violet & Daisy is highly stylized and utterly charming, but it would be too precious if the cast was not so excellent. Saorise Ronan and Alexis Bledel (of Gilmore Girls fame) are costars, and James Gandolfini is a strong supporting actor that brings a grounded and odd sweetness that offsets the girls’ arrested emotional development. Violet & Daisy is violent, but not realistic. Violet & Daisy only alludes to the real impact of ugliness in the titular characters’ life: sexual victimization, betrayal and violence. There is a tremendous oneiric narrative element so the details aren’t always clear.
I would not mind rewatching the film to recall certain aspects of the story that didn’t register during the first showing or to clarify whether certain details were ever actually revealed. I really enjoyed Violet & Daisy and would highly recommend it to fans of the cast.