Review of Stoker (2013) by Nesbitt10 — 03 Jun 2013

Park Chan-wook's latest is a seductive slice of suspense titled "Stoker," and it is carried with some unexpected supernatural bravura. It's not understated to say moviegoers' were thrilled when director Park Chan-wook, director of the legendary "Oldboy" (2003) and "Lady Vengeance" (2005), announced he was making his first English language feature film. Park is a truly talented director, a visual stylist with a flair for mystery. He is best known on these shores for his notorious, visceral, and character-driven 'Vengeance Trilogy'. Unfortunately, some American viewers familiar with his work, accompanied with their lofty expectations, won't get what they might have expected and hoped for.

India (Mia Wasikowska) is an emotionally distant 18-year-old living with her mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman) in a sprawling mansion somewhere in the Deep South. She is mourning the recent death of her father in a car accident, and she was not prepared to lose her father and best friend Richard (Dermot Mulroney) in a tragic auto accident. The solitude of her woodsy family estate, the peacefulness of her tranquil town, and the unspoken somberness of her home life are suddenly upended by not only this mysterious accident. Then there is the sudden arrival of her Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode), whom she never knew existed. When Charlie moves in with her and her emotionally unstable mother, India thinks the void left by her father's death is finally being filled by his closest bloodline. Soon after his arrival however, India comes to suspect that this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives. Yet instead of feeling outrage or horror, this friendless young woman becomes increasingly infatuated with him.

Technical achievements are almost nullified in large part to a pair of mitigating factors the first of which is Wentworth Miller's compelling, yet flawed screenplay. The fact that the most sympathetic people in the film are dead before it even starts doesn't help. Elegant direction helps to elevate a wearisome story line, but the cast plays things a bit too cool for comfort in "Stoker"- a morbid inversion of Alfred "Shadow of a Doubt" (1943). Thematically, Park's eerie domestic drama fits nicely into his criterion, though its distinctive lack of sympathetic characters keeps us at arm's length when we should have a sense of being emotionally invested. While Wasikowska is a talented actress, she's curiously flat here in her role as India. The potential for a complex, distressed protagonist is present, but the progression you're waiting for never quite comes. While it's understandable that India might seem emotionally distant following such a trauma, but she overplays the disaffected nature of her mourning, that it blunts her story's emotional impact. Likewise, her character's frustrated and secluded mother never comes across as remotely likeable. Miller's sense of pacing plays well to Park's strengths in sustaining tension ensuring that the audience remains engaged--and the major reveals are well hidden by Miller, as he skillfully plays his cards close to his chest.

The overall result is a nerve-racking riff, and in its own right, is well made and certainly respectable. However, all of which contributes to the nagging idea that "Stoker" doesn't truly know what it wants to be. The story seems to have been pushed and pulled in a variety of directions by different parties. The film feels 'tainted' by Hollywood-a movie that is well polished and yet restrained, and nothing close to resembling a traditional South Korean thriller. A film that is worth the watch, but falls short of expectations and being truly memorable.