Review of Rose Plays Julie (2021) by Jluis_001 — 28 Mar 2021

This was a sober and cold movie. Very cold.

A dark psychological thriller that at first seems like a search for identity, and ends up becoming a story about confronting old wounds, fear, abuse, reckoning and ultimately assimilation.

The story centers on Rose (Ann Skelly), a young veterinary student who was adopted and is in search of her biological parents.

She manages to get in touch with her mother Ellen (Orla Brady) but she had given indications that she did not want to have contact with Rose. However, she doesn't give up and eventually through mutual interruptions in their private spaces both end up developing a kind of relationship that ends up delving into a darker subject that involves the biological father; Peter (Aiden Gillen).

What follows, to a certain extent is intuited, but that doesn't mean the film is predictable, but that the extension of a trauma for one of the characters, becomes a terrible situation that will cause the union of mother and daughter in a way which will eventually provide them with a future that neither of them expected, or at least I didn't expected.

Directed by two directors, Rose Plays Julie certainly takes inspiration from filmmakers like Yorgos Lanthimos and Michael Haneke, but only that, inspiration.

Both build a slow paced and gloomy film, yet not impenetrable.

The tone is essential because it collides with the tone of the performances, and although there were some contemplative moments that I personally don't think were of much use, the film remains good.

Pretty good option.