Lily (Anna Taylor-Joy) and Amanda (Olivia Cooke) used to be firm friends as young girls but grew apart after the death of Lily’s father. Following an incident with Amanda’s horse her mother pays Lily to tutor her on the proviso that she makes it look like she just wants to reconnect. 

Lily and Amanda are the thoroughbreds of the title in this ode to Hitchcock. Born from rich families, used to the finer things in life and both sociopathic in their entitlement. Discovering how far they will go to get it is what makes this film so bewilderingly interesting. 

Whilst Amanda is fully aware of the falseness of their first reunion the pair do reconnect and begin to share their woes. Amanda is under investigation for animal cruelty because she decided to euthanise her thoroughbred horse with a knife whilst Lily has been expelled from her expensive private school for plagiarism and despises her stepfather Mark (Paul Sparks). So when Amanda admits to Lily that she feels absolutely nothing it triggers some ideas in how they might handle the Mark problem. 

What follows is a darkly black series of events where the pair try to organise the murder of Mark. At one point they rope in a local drug dealer (Anton Yelchin in his final film performance before his untimely death) to assist in their plans. But ultimately what is most interesting is the two characters behaviour. Amanda clearly has some psychological condition that does not allow her to feel joy or guilt where as Lily knows exactly what the outcome of her actions will mean. The result is that you begin to wonder which of them is truly the most diabolical. 

I am late to the party on Thoroughbreds. Released in 2017 it cemented Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke as big talents following their breakout performances in The Witch and Me and Earle and the Dying Girl respectively. Whilst writer/director Cory Finley would go on to make Bad Education. Both women are incredibly good here and the final mic drop ending is brutal. 

Ultimately it is the sense of constantly wondering just how far their conditioning will drive their actions that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The sense of awe at just how far they will go is impressive.