The Safdie Brothers‘ “Good Time” hits theaters today, and it can’t be stressed enough that the thriller should be on your must-see movie list. Crackling with gritty energy, and powered by what might be Robert Pattinson‘s best performance to date, the film is a hellish odyssey through a single night in New York City, as a low-level hood tries to get his brother out of jail when a bank heist goes terribly wrong. It’s a movie where the screws keep getting tightened on our protagonist, and helping to set the tone of unending dread is Oneohtrix Point Never.
Also known by the name Daniel Lopatin, the electronic artist delivers one of the best soundtracks in recent memory (which also won an award at Cannes this spring), which pulses with vibrant life beneath the film’s grimy exterior. It’s great work and it raises the already knot-in-stomach tension found in the material, with “Hospital Escape/Access-A-Ride” a perfect example of the soundtrack’s ability to push the film’s uneasy tension. Part of that comes from Lopatin’s dedication to ensuring the soundtrack reflected the setting of the film.
READ MORE: 45-Minute ‘Good Time’ Talk With Robert Pattinson & The Safdie Brothers
“The soundtrack was about also activating weird environmental sound design. The best example of that is when Connie uses the hydraulic lift of that Access-A-Ride bus. I loved the hydraulic lift so much, so I figured out what key it was in,” he told Pitchfork. “My thought was that if the music could somehow be in concert with the key of the hydraulic lift, it’s going to be subliminally cool. That kind of sonic language embedded in the film also refers to those New York textures. It makes New York feel like this bioluminescent, science-fiction, sentient being, even though it’s real brutalist.”
It’s brilliant stuff all around, and capped off with the great “The Pure And The Damned” featuring Iggy Pop.
The soundtrack is available today and you can stream it below. “Good Time” is now playing.