In Navot Papushado’s latest feature film, killing is a family business. Gunpowder Milkshake centers on Sam (Karen Gillan) who, after being abandoned by her mercenary mother (Lena Headey) as a teenager, follows in her weapon-wielding footsteps and becomes a killer on her own. But complications arise and a fuse is set off between a powerful group known as “The Firm” and the killer women they’ve taken from, forcing them out of the shadows.
Gunpowder Milkshake is unsure of its tone at times, swinging from solemn familial drama to tongue-in-cheek buddy comedy in a way that makes the most emotional beats of this film fall flat. There’s an emotional stuntedness to Sam that comes off as a wry, deadpan sense of humor that helps mend the tonal gap—but this is definitely a film with two feet in two different worlds. This is even apparent in its sporadic visual style. In some instances, there are charming bouts of color theory inspired by the film’s dynamic settings—the grandiose library, the halogenic diner, the pulsing bowling alley—while other more dramatic moments are literally shadowed in an attempt to read as gritty noir.
Dir. Navot Papushado, R, 114 min. Netflix
