After the near-universal acclaim of Whiplash and La La Land, it seemed that director Damien Chazelle could do no wrong. However, the release of the star-studded Babylon was met with mixed reviews and a disappointing box office, and Margot Robbie is still confused as to why audiences hated the film.

Babylon depicts the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood. It was Chazelle’s most expensive and most ambitious project to date, which is a shame that it was perceived as such a letdown. “I still can’t figure out why people really hated it,” Robbie said in a conversation with Ben Mankiewicz on the Talking Pictures podcast. “I wonder if in 20 years people are going to be like, ‘Wait, Babylon didn’t do well at the time? That’s crazy.’ When you hear something like, [The] Shawshank Redemption was a failure at the time, or whatever it is, and you’re like, ‘Oh, how is that possible?’“

As for Chazelle, the director noted earlier this year that the flop of Babylon could very well hurt his future projects. “I’m in a sort of trepidatious state of mind, but I have no illusions. I won’t get a budget of Babylon size any time soon, or at least not on this next one,” Chazelle said. “Certainly, in financial terms, Babylon didn’t work at all…You try to not have that effect [on] what you’re doing creatively, but, at some level, it can’t help but affect it. But maybe that’s OK? I have a very mixed mind about it. Who knows. Maybe I won’t be able to get this one made. I have no idea. We’ll have to wait and see.“

Our own Chris Bumbray found Babylon to be a mixed bag. “The filmmaking is technically brilliant, but the storytelling is hit-and-miss. While it still deserves to be seen (in theaters), it’s also frustratingly evocative of other, much-better movies, specifically The Wolf of Wall Street and Boogie Nights,” Bumbray wrote in his review. “Chazelle seems focused on making the anti-La La Land, where this version of Hollywood is a cesspool that crushes dreams rather than makes them come true. He seems overly preoccupied with being provocative. While undeniably entertaining, Babylon is all over the place, although it’s so out there I wouldn’t be surprised if it develops a cult following at some point.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.

What did you think of Babylon? Do you think it will be critically reappraised years from now?

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