Eileen (C or 2/4 stars)
New Zealand actress Thomasin McKenzie stars in Michael Oldroyd's 'Eileen', a pitch dark & violent psychological thriller in which the setting - 1960's rural Massachusetts in the dead of winter - is as bleak as the plot. Lonely, aloof & peculiar Eileen (McKenzie, whose Boston accent flounders) lives a stifled life isn't unlike the local juvenile detention center where she works: routine, dreary & miserable. Her cheerlessness is heightened by having to care for her abusive father (Shea Whigham), a vicious alcoholic who has become increasingly brutish & paranoiac since Eileen's beloved mom passed away.
When vibrant blonde bombshell, Dr. Rebecca St. John (Anne Hathaway), joins the staff as the juvenile detention's head child psychologist, she - shall we say - 'befriends' Eileen. Eileen is utterly captivated by Rebecca's glamorous, mercurial presence and, for the 1st time in her 24 years on Earth ... Eileen's aimless life finally has a spark of hope. But just when things looked to be coming together for Eileen and, a close 'friendship' looks to be on the horizon, Rebecca's atypical & unorthodox approach to solving a bizarre murder case. To say that the film takes a sinister turn is putting it lightly.
'Eileen' is one of those movies that starts intriguingly well, unfolds slowly {perhaps too slowly, but it still makes sense}, and then goes off the raiiilllsss in the final 25 minutes; abandoning intelligence for sordid & salacious plot points revolving around sexual child abuse, incest, rape, and more. It's a shame because the film looks great, sounds nice, contains good-to-great performances from McKenzie, Hathaway & particularly Marin Ireland {in a small, but potent performance near the end}, and yet ... the script becomes highly misguided as unsettling plot incidents careen down the home stretch. This film is the epitome of the notion that what may work in a book {this story is adapted from a novel} - where readers can use their imagination - does not necessarily mean that the same story will work in a movie adaptation.
As I'm writing this critique, I can't believe what a nosedive this film took, for me. What started out so promising - a drama of repressed desire that contains interesting, complex characters everywhere - just takes such an abrupt, bonkers turn that I sat in befuddled silence as the credits rolled. The tonal shift that occurs made it difficult for me to reconcile what was actually happening on the screen in real time. You may be thinking that you'd want to check out this film based on the vagueness with which I describe the startling, dire turn that the plot takes, but trust me, it is not the type of startling turn that reaps rewards in the end. I praise the period details, glazed cinematography & those performances, but the end result is one of disappointment.
When vibrant blonde bombshell, Dr. Rebecca St. John (Anne Hathaway), joins the staff as the juvenile detention's head child psychologist, she - shall we say - 'befriends' Eileen. Eileen is utterly captivated by Rebecca's glamorous, mercurial presence and, for the 1st time in her 24 years on Earth ... Eileen's aimless life finally has a spark of hope. But just when things looked to be coming together for Eileen and, a close 'friendship' looks to be on the horizon, Rebecca's atypical & unorthodox approach to solving a bizarre murder case. To say that the film takes a sinister turn is putting it lightly.
'Eileen' is one of those movies that starts intriguingly well, unfolds slowly {perhaps too slowly, but it still makes sense}, and then goes off the raiiilllsss in the final 25 minutes; abandoning intelligence for sordid & salacious plot points revolving around sexual child abuse, incest, rape, and more. It's a shame because the film looks great, sounds nice, contains good-to-great performances from McKenzie, Hathaway & particularly Marin Ireland {in a small, but potent performance near the end}, and yet ... the script becomes highly misguided as unsettling plot incidents careen down the home stretch. This film is the epitome of the notion that what may work in a book {this story is adapted from a novel} - where readers can use their imagination - does not necessarily mean that the same story will work in a movie adaptation.
As I'm writing this critique, I can't believe what a nosedive this film took, for me. What started out so promising - a drama of repressed desire that contains interesting, complex characters everywhere - just takes such an abrupt, bonkers turn that I sat in befuddled silence as the credits rolled. The tonal shift that occurs made it difficult for me to reconcile what was actually happening on the screen in real time. You may be thinking that you'd want to check out this film based on the vagueness with which I describe the startling, dire turn that the plot takes, but trust me, it is not the type of startling turn that reaps rewards in the end. I praise the period details, glazed cinematography & those performances, but the end result is one of disappointment.