Worth: $19.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Florence Pugh, Chris Pine, Harry Styles, Olivia Wilde, Gemma Chan, Nick Kroll, Sydney Chandler, Dita Von Teese, KiKi Layne
Intro:
… a devilishly fun cautionary tale.
Actress/Director Olivia Wilde’s (Booksmart) mixed-genre dystopian film is a devilishly fun cautionary tale.
It all takes place in a Disneyesque hyperreal ‘estate’ built in such a desolate and remote part of America that it is virtually a gated community. With its pastel-shaded houses and big-finned cars, we seem to be stuck in some 1950s world. That is deliberate because the model of marriage and of the household in general, and the role of women as subservient wife/slaves, is perhaps an extrapolation from that era.
The satire is sometimes savage, even heavy-handed, but the whole thing is so beautifully shot and played that we really get sucked in. There is also a lot of partying so that these privileged but (please note) not all white American couples could plausibly think they are living the suburban American Dream.
The centre of the community is Frank (Chris Pine both handsome and malign) who ‘runs’ the whole show as a guru/dictator. Everyone treats Frank as if it is a privilege to be in his presence.
All this rolls along smoothly until someone sees through the charade. The film’s focus is the marriage between Jack (singer Harry Styles furthering his morph into screen actor) and Alice (Florence Pugh), who always looks stunning. She cooks the dinners and cleans the house and is ready for sex any time he wants. Although, this is obviously a fake world, as we never see any shops or services. Alice’s friend Bunny (Wilde) leads the socialising – drinkies by the pool, coffee mornings etc. Every now and then there are gala balls or dinner parties. As Alice pushes against this oppressive unquestioning world, the force behind the illusion starts to show.
The idea of a person starting to pierce the veil and then being jerked back into a manufactured reality is a familiar trope, and this film has echoes of other works such as The Truman Show, The Stepford Wives and The Handmaid’s Tale. There are also slight but telling overlaps with pure horror, where the husband betrays or manipulates the wife whilst making a pact with the devil (think Rosemary’s Baby).
All these echoes and allusions do not detract from the film’s originality and appeal though. It is beautifully shot and well-paced. The set and costume design are perfect. It is also positive and notable that not every aspect of the film is fully explained. It has a mysterious quality that lodges in the mind, which is often the hallmark of true cinema. Some scenes here will float free of their original context and be memed endlessly.
