Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
The story of the Promethean struggles of Nikola Tesla, as he attempts to transcend entrenched technology—including his own previous work—by pioneering a system of wireless energy that would change the world.
Tesla (2020) directed by Michael Almereyda is a genuinely idiosyncratic biographical film that breaks conventional biopic rules with deliberate anachronisms, direct-to-camera narration, and meta-theatrical devices like Anne Morgan Googling Tesla on a laptop. These formal experiments earn it high Novelty marks as a truly singular piece of filmmaking. Ethan Hawke delivers a thoughtful, internalized performance as Tesla. However, the deliberately fragmented, episodic plot structure frustrates more than it illuminates, leaving the narrative feeling underdeveloped and emotionally distant. The cinematography is competent but unspectacular. The ending feels abrupt and unresolved, failing to provide satisfying closure to Tesla's tragic arc despite the film's ambitions.