Review of Side Effects (2013) by Matt F — 06 Dec 2014

Incredible performance by Rooney Mara highlights this Hitchcockian exercise in stylish suspense. With an elegance befitting the Master, director Steven Soderbergh weaves a surprising (and unapologetically implausible) story of violence, deceit, greed, and of course lust.

Jude Law gives a performance as strong as Mara's, playing a psychiatrist treating a troubled young woman (Mara) plagued by an ongoing depression that moves her to attempt suicide after her husband is released from prison for insider trading.

Disaster strikes when Law prescribes an experimental anti-depression medication to the young woman: it seems the drug has some rather terrifying side effects. Before long, Mara's entire world quickly begins to unravel, and Law watches helplessly as his own life follows suit.

Catherine Zeta-Jones is on hand as the girl's previous psychotherapist and Channing Tatum plays her worried husband. The chess game that unfolds between these specimens is thrilling, and the film expertly blends conventional suspense tropes with ultramodern satire of big pharma.

A classic by no means, but one should see it if only for the tour-de-force performances of the two leads.