Studio: Decal Releasing
Release Date: 9/17/2024
Rating: Unrated
Film Grade: C-
The Story: Alice and Celine are next-door neighbors and the closest of friends. Likewise, their two young boys are tightly bonded schoolmates who spend their free time together. The early 1960s are carefree and peaceful, with days and nights punctuated with lavish parties. Those happy days are about to be disrupted, however, as a horrible tragedy upturns all of their lives, setting off an unexpected course of events.
My Take: The film is a remake of a Belgian production of the novel written by Barbara Abel, author of numerous thrillers. I’ve not seen or read either, so can’t offer a comparison to either of those two, leaving me to judge it on its own. As such, it’s a standard potboiler, making it a big disappointment considering the talent involved.
The movie stars Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain as the two mothers. Both are highly capable actresses, but the script they have to work with just doesn’t offer much. Neither role is fully realized, with actions only serving the plot rather than flowing naturally. The result is that even though we know we should feel bad for the terrible event and subsequent developments, the ways that they react leave us feeling cold and distant. Anders Danielsen Lie and Josh Charles play the two husbands, but their parts are relegated to nothing more than supporting roles. The film is clearly focused on the two female stars.
The story moves slowly at first, taking time to briefly discuss 1960’s politics and meditate on how women of the time had little chance to do anything beyond raising their children. None of those elements are explored in a meaningful way, and soon any such themes are tossed to the side. At that point, the mystery of who’s doing what and why is solved and the movie finally begins to build steam, but at the cost of dramatic coherence as it speeds to the improbable ending.
Visuals: This is the one spot where the film rises above average. Prolific cinematographer Benoît Delhomme not only handles those chores but also takes the helm as director for his first time. The result is a cohesive visual representation of those two aspects of the movie. The picture quality is top notch as it moves between swanky soirées, back when women wore colorfully fanciful dresses and men wore thin ties to such events, to shadowy, noir-like scenes as answers are searched for. Homes are filled with period-appropriate furniture in pristine condition that look like display pieces rather than rooms that are lived in, reflecting a time when housewives could devote their time to such chores.
Audio: The disc comes with a basic 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix, which is fine for this kind of a movie, being dialog heavy. The orchestral score is appropriate, but nothing remarkable. A couple of pop hits and jazz pieces can be heard at various times. It’s not the kind of movie that has a chance to do anything special in regards to sound.
Special Features: None.
Final Verdict: The movie had all the ingredients to be a top-notch domestic thriller, but the shallow plot brings it down to the level of something routinely found on the Lifetime or Hallmark channels. Motivations are sketchy, and any deeper themes are abandoned in favor of pandering, cheap thrills and heavy melodrama.
It may be worth your time to catch on a streaming service if you’re interested in the two leading ladies, but be sure to go in with low expectations, since there isn’t much for them to do with such a weak story.
Representative Quote: “Everyone deals with tragedy in their own way.”
As is too common these days, the trailer gives away quite a bit of the plot:
My Review System:JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
Oppo BDP-93
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup
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