Rating: 4.5/5
My ears hear what others cannot hear. Small, faraway things people cannot normally see are visible to me. These senses are the fruits of a lifetime of longing—longing to be rescued, to be completed. Just as the skirt needs the wind to billow, I'm not formed by things that are of myself alone.
It’s India Stoker’s 18th birthday. Her father, Richard, has died in a car accident. Her mother, Evelyn, is broken by the experience. After the funeral, India and Evelyn host the funeral reception with the help of Mrs. McGarrick, the head caretaker.
At the reception, India meets her father’s younger brother, Charlie, whom she didn’t know existed. His presence annoys India and distresses Mrs. McGarrick. Charlie tells India he will stay with the family to support India and Evelyn.
India witnesses an altercation between Charlie and Mrs. McGarrick, who insinuates she has been passing info about the family to Charlie for years. Soon, Mrs. MicGarrick disappears, and Evelyn and Charlie spend all their time together. India wonders if there is a plot underfoot. If so, to what end?
Park Chan-wook’s first English-language film has a swirling Gothic energy, not unlike Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle. The filmmaking perfectly complements India’s adolescence—everything is heightened with a sense of longing and distrust that feels teenage, at least how I remember it.
The high school scenes initially feel weird and tonally inconsistent with the rest of the movie. But they’re the gateway to a side of India we can’t know otherwise.
— Boys that age.. well, you know how they are. — I'm sure I do.
Speaking of what the director is known for, his use of juxtaposition is so clever and does some powerful storytelling. It’s the kind of stuff that makes me exclaim, “Cinema!” like a dork.
This film has genuinely shocking moments. Considering the director, they shouldn’t be, but the dude knows how to set expectations and transgress them.
Sometimes, you need to do something bad to stop you from doing something worse.
Everyone’s bringing their A-game, acting-wise. Mia Wasikowska is brilliant, Nicole Kidman is brilliant, Dermot Mulroney is pretty great, and Matthew Goode is a fucking nightmare.
What a movie! I can’t believe the dude from Prison Break wrote this.