Nocturne ***½ (out of 5) (NR) Rising young stars Sydney Sweeney and Madison Iseman co-star as twin sisters (Juliet and Vivian, respectively) hoping their piano skills will be good enough to allow stepping up from their performing-arts high school to the Mecca of universities in their field - Julliard. Both have devoted an abnormal amount of their childhood and adolescence to practice, at the expense of other typical activities and relationships. Unfortunately, Vivian is more gifted and more popular. Juliet’s envy on both counts seethes below the surface, eroding their lifelong delight in each other’s company and successes. Vivian fails to notice the resentment burgeoning in her sibling.
In Faustian tradition, Juliet makes the proverbial “deal with the devil”, though more subtly than usual. There’s no chatting and negotiating with a personification of Satan. The bargain is formed gradually and tacitly. Sweeney gets most of the screen time since her character is the one morphing into a darker version of herself. She handles each aspect of Juliet’s descent quite deftly.
The sets are excellent. The essential classical piano pieces are also well balanced to please most viewers. Beautiful music for the aesthetes; partial performances for those with less interest in that part of the experience. The final act may seem a bit hyperbolic in relation to the path for getting there, but the overall product is quite satisfying, with the perk of seeing these actresses develop into the stars they will likely become. (Amazon Prime as of 10/13/20)