Review of Stoker (2013) by Sextet — 16 Sep 2021

Morbid and amazing I am not quite what to think about this movie..... The general synopsis is that it's about an 18 year old teenage girl named India and the uncle that has recently entered her life after her father dies.

They are both morbid and disturbing people and it takes a while for her to warm up to her unusual uncle. As the story goes on she starts to see just how disturbing her uncle is, and even though at first she is hesitant, eventually it helps her explore her own morbidity. There is a bit of an erotic theme including a saucy masturbation scene. Her sexuality really doesn't have to do with incest or anything but more of her connecting with her darker, morbid side. The movie has a seed of horror but not so much that you could consider it to be a horror movie.

It would seem that many people would question about there being many layers.... Of fantasy versus reality.... but I don't really know if that matters. I don't think there's a moment where it's obvious that the uncle either doesn't exist or is some fantasy of her imagination. Maybe, maybe not. The movie works well either way. There is some jealousy between the mother and daughter over the uncle's attention. The mother is a bit disturbed at their energy together. There is a scene with some morbid music where they play a duet that really strikes India to her emotional core, as if she's a bit overwhelmed that someone could understand the core of how she feels. The fantasy or reality of everything really doesn't matter, but the main theme is more that her disturbed uncle helps her embrace her own disturbed core. She definitely has a thing for blood and death. When her father was alive, he embraced that by taking her hunting frequently. There is some sort of quote that the father said to her once, that sometimes you have to help a person do something bad to prevent them from doing something worse.

The story is a bit unusual and doesn't quite have the typical arc of most Hollywood movies. That may be a slight flaw. The directing and especially the camera work are custom tailored to the morbid theme and I would definitely rate them 10/10.

Mia Wasikowska is impeccable as India Stoker. She's a very disturbed and morbid child, reminiscent of Wednesday Addams, minus the comedy. I had a certain unusual and morbid side to me as a teenager so I found her incredibly attractive. Her mannerisms are spot on, very quiet and cautious, with long disturbing stares and her head always tilted to the side. She was thrilling to watch and definitely attractive if you're into that kind of thing.