Rapper Machine Gun Kelly plays a self-destructive musician in Tim Sutton’s Taurus, premiering in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival. Going by his real name, Colson Baker, he puts in an authentic turn as his character Cole flits between the studio, his expensive apartment and an array of seedy bars and strip clubs. Adding to a sense of impending doom is a disturbing opening scene involving a child with a loaded gun. The significance of this is later revealed, but it could also be considered a symbol of Cole himself: an immature person who has great power, and an attraction to danger.
Set over a few days, this is an involving portrait of a lonely, angry man who’s seeking solace in drink and drugs, while neglecting many people in his life. Most of these are female. There’s Cole’s young daughter, Rose (Avery Tiiu Essex) who barely sees him when she comes to stay, and certainly doesn’t see him sober. Then there’s his ex, played by Baker’s real life partner Megan Fox, who has a blazing row with him in the studio that we only see rather than hear.
There’s a guest singer on his track who does a beautiful job — but whom he doesn’t even remember an hour later. Most significantly, there’s his assistant Ilana (Maddie Hasson), a long-suffering young woman whose duties range from driving him around to cleaning up his vomit. “I’m not his mother,” she protests at one point, when held accountable for another of his absences, but her job isn’t far off.
The love-hate relationship between this bickering pair is a darkly funny and touching one that, like many scenes, offers an insight into the lives of the rich and famous. Another key scene sees a pizza delivery guy asking for a selfie in the studio. Cole’s reaction drives a wedge between him and a collaborator (rapper Lil TJay), who suggests he could be more humble, articulating what most of the audience will be thinking at that point. But Baker’s vulnerable performance still allows us to have sympathy for Cole.
Baker also composed the music for the film, most notably a hypnotic sequence that plays throughout, contributing to a dreamlike mood that’s enhanced by fantasy sequences. While some of these are well signaled, it’s sometimes hard to tell if we’re watching real events or Cole’s stoned imaginings.
In another blurring between reality and fiction, the actor has said that he brought much of himself to the role. This should please fans curious to understand him better, if not fully — it’s a snapshot of a troubled life, and a chance to walk in another’s very expensive shoes.