A young woman visits an older man’s workplace, and the encounter reveals dark secrets that neither of them can hide.
Unsettling theme, uneasy pace, and an uncomfortable watch. The premise becomes obvious from the very beginning. Still, David Harrower’s script (and original play), Benedict Andrews’ camera, and Nick Fenton’s editing use “predatory” techniques instead of just tackling what you already know will happen. Psychologically, it is like anticipating someone to die but not being ready at all when they do. If the comparison seems unfair, this is what happened to Una; she died on the inside.
Fenton’s editing keeps this steady pace from beginning to end, offering neither excitement nor boredom but maintaining a realistic sense of time for the story to unfold and disclose information that the audience is unsure if they want to know (until they know they don’t). Benedict Andrews and director of photography Thimios Bakatakis mount the cameras over the shoulders and follow Una and Ray down a rabbit hole that depresses and divides our feelings. By its nature, cinema is, intentionally or not, a form of voyeurism, but Andrews’ directing wants to make it evident that this is the intended purpose. He wants you to be this omniscient voyeur of Una and Ray’s story and ensure you are uncertain about casting the stone you hold. It is one of them films where you can’t wait to end, it doesn’t, you want to turn it off, but, simultaneously, you cannot not know the end. And as if the plot is not utterly stomach-twirling enough, the subplot makes it even worse for Ray, who, in the meantime, has been forced to announce to some of his employees that they are fired… while Una is there.
The moment I really wanted to put an end to both of their suffering (and mine) and turn it off was about an hour and ten minutes into the film, where after Una’s particular line, you know that this horrendous situation is gonna go to hell. I could hear my heart pounding and felt like sweating. And I put a full stop here just in case you decide (after all that) to watch it. What’s important to do at this point is to praise Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn for their performances on an individual level and their tough chemistry on a collective one.
Harrower and Andrews put their audience in a very tough spot by not distinguishing who the prey is and who the victim is, when, in a case like this, it should have been pretty obvious. I do not condemn that; if anything, it is remarkable, but it is not a film I can recommend to anyone.
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