I’ve been a fan of Quentin Tarantino’s for a long time now, so I was pretty curious about his latest (and ninth and per reports penultimate) film, especially in light of what the ending might be, as it’s stirred a fair bit of discussion. So here goes.

Set in 1969, at the end of Hollywood’s Golden Age, this basically follows three days in the life of Rick Dalton (Leonardo Dicaprio), an actor, and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), his stunt double, as well as Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), wife to revered director Roman Polanski. It mostly follows the former two but gives enough due to Tate, especially through how it displays her physicality and ultimately portrays her as a nice, free-spirited person.

It also definitely has an ensemble cast, typical of Tarantino, and populated by the likes of, say, Damien Lewis as Steve McQueen and Dakota Fanning as a member of the Manson family (a band of serial killers). To this effect, it’s clear that the Mansons definitely intrigue Tarantino, as much as the period does, and so there’s a bit of mixed foreboding going on as a result, in equal status to its affectionate tribute. This all results in, to me, Tarantino’s most restrained and relaxed film, with, for better or worse funnily enough, less of the obvious killer dialogue you might expect.

Now, I mentioned the ending at the beginning of this review. It’s caused quite a bit of controversy, and I won’t spoil anything here, but I will say it’s, to me, definitely filmed within context, and you’ll just have to see what you make of it when you watch the film. Seek this out.