Review of Savage Grace (2007) by Dustin B — 25 Jul 2010

Based on a true story, Julianne Moore gives one of her best (and bravest) performances to date as Barbara Baeklande, a model and heiress to a vast fortune whose marriage to tycoon husband is on the rocks. To ease her pain she turns to her son Tony (Eddie Redmayne), only for their relationship to eventually extend beyond the bounds of a normal mother-son relationship into a sexual one. Things only get worse when Barbara learns her son is gay which leads to... well use your imagination. Inevitably these depravities soon take a darker, violent and more tragic turn once jealously rears its ugly head.

While a very good movie, this is one of those films that should be viewed by only the most jaded viewers given the inevitable "ewwww gross" reaction to the incest plot angle. Still I found it fascinating in a repellent kind of way, Moore's performance making her character so fascinating that I wanted to know what the hell made Baeklande behave that way. Sadly there aren't really any answers to that.

Not as gratuitous as you'd expect but viewer discretion is advised.