Jake Gyllenhaal’s Naked Body is the Greatest Work of Art in ‘Velvet Buzzsaw’

Netflix’s new thriller Velvet Buzzsaw is a horrifying satire set in the art scene, a world director Dan Gilroy shows us is rife with snobs, poseurs, and pretentious dingleberries. The movie hinges on one dead artist’s power to command attention from beyond the grave, which culminates in works of art springing to life to kill the art scene’s worst pricks. It’s a kooky horror set up that allows the audience to see a lot of art crammed into one film. However, Velvet Buzzsaw‘s best work of art isn’t the deceased Dease’s disturbing oeuvre or the Instagram-worthy “sphere” exhibit; it’s star Jake Gyllenhaal‘s naked body.

Okay, so technically Gyllenhaal never appears entirely nude in Velvet Buzzsaw, but he gets close. Less than 14 minutes into the film, we go to his character, art critic Morf Vandewalt’s home. We see a nude Morf spread out in a lounge chair, with only a laptop covering himself up.

Aside from being a gorgeous shot of Gyllenhaal, it shows us a moment where the usually glib and in control Morf is completely vulnerable. He is in the middle of working on an art review, and he’s making a big decision about his life. Morf’s boyfriend Ed (Sedale Threatt Jr.) enters the room wearing nothing but a towel and luring Morf into the pool. The seduction is so intense that the camera lingers on Ed as he completely disrobes and jumps into the pool.

Morf, however, is uninterested. He is now obsessed with someone new: aspiring art dealer Josephina (Zawe Ashton). It’s this love that propels Morf for the rest of the film, pushing him to lie in reviews and support Josephina on her new project involving Dease.

There is great storytelling in this brief scene, and great acting, too. Gyllenhaal flits from being just lounging in his home, to brushing off a lover, to musing about a new one. He communicates this important shift in Morf without words — just looks and gestures. The fact that he’s nude doesn’t distract so much as underlines that this is Morf without his carefully tailored suit of pretensions. This is him, as a man, undone.

Velvet Buzzsaw is far from a perfect film. In fact, its obsession with the gulf between the coldness of the art world and the sensations art actually exists to evoke is undercut by the film’s own pretentiousness. You never feel for any of the characters struggling to survive. Well, you do start caring for one…and that’s Gyllenhaal’s Morf. He begins the film as a monster, happily ruining lives and tearing down artists’ life work. Velvet Buzzsaw challenges Morf, though, by forcing him to confront his own shortcomings. He loses his nerve, has his heart broken, and is all but ruined by an echo chamber of his own cruelty.

This transformation succeeds in huge part thanks to Gyllenhaal’s performance. As Morf, he is grotesque, hilarious, and deeply affecting. Velvet Buzzsaw is just the latest chapter in Gyllenhaal’s career where he presents us with a hilarious and bizarre villain who is still recognizably human underneath. In fact, if you tune into Velvet Buzzsaw for one reason, it should be for Gyllenhaal’s genius performance. If you’re open to a second reason, it should be the great shot of his body.

Watch Velvet Buzzsaw on Netflix