Summary
A young woman arrives unexpectedly at an older man's workplace looking for the truth behind the affair that occurred between them. Drama, starring Rooney Mara, Ben Mendelsohn and Riz Ahmed
A young woman arrives unexpectedly at an older man's workplace looking for the truth behind the affair that occurred between them. Drama, starring Rooney Mara, Ben Mendelsohn and Riz Ahmed
An eviscerating, fearless adaptation of David Harrower's play Blackbird, this drama stars Rooney Mara as a young woman shaped and scarred by a sexually abusive relationship she had with Ray (Ben Mendelsohn), a much older neighbour, when she was 13 years old. Opening the action out without losing any of the claustrophobia that made the original so tense, Harrower and director Benedict Andrews (a theatre director making his film debut here) flit effortlessly between time periods. In the past, we see the then 13-year-old Una (an indelible Ruby Stokes) and Ray making an ill-fated attempt to run away together, which results in his arrest and imprisonment. In the present, Una tracks Ray, now living under a new name, his past buried, to a factory where he's a respected middle-manager dealing with a downsizing problem at the workplace. Their confrontation is a harrowing exercise in truth and reconciliation, where the principals' motives and darkest desires are as complex and almost unfathomable to the audience as they are to Una and Ray themselves. It's a tough watch, but the leads' scorching performances make the effort worthwhile.
role | name |
---|---|
Una | Rooney Mara |
Ray | Ben Mendelsohn |
Scott | Riz Ahmed |
Young Una | Ruby Stokes |
Andrea | Tara FitzGerald |
Yvonne | Natasha Little |
Mark | Tobias Menzies |
John | Ciaran McMenamin |
Holly | Isobelle Molloy |
Sonia | Indira Varma |
role | name |
---|---|
Director | Benedict Andrews |