Melodrama starring Mia Wasikowska. After her beloved father dies, India Stoker is at first unsettled when his suave brother Charles moves in, then horrified when he appears to be making a move on her mother, who doesn't seem to be missing her husband much at all.
South Korean director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, Thirst) makes his Hollywood debut with this unsettling gothic thriller. On her 18th birthday, India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) finds out that her father has been killed in an accident. She has never met his brother, but uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode) appears at the funeral and quickly makes himself at home - getting very cosy with India's emotionally distant mother, Evelyn (Nicole Kidman). But India is not so easily won over, and her suspicions about Charlie's motives increase at the same time as his not-so-subtle interest in her becomes abundantly clear. There are nods to Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt and the beautiful but dysfunctional families of Douglas Sirk's lush melodramas, but Park's usual themes of sex, death and revenge are still very much in evidence and - happily - they have been only slightly toned down. The potboiler script from Prison Break actor Wentworth Miller is elevated by the director's incredibly immersive visual style, Clint Mansell's superb score and the expert performances: Kidman's immobile, slightly scary face is used to great effect; Goode oozes malevolent charm; and Wasikowska skilfully keeps you guessing as to whether India is an angel or a monster.
| role | name |
|---|---|
| India Stoker | Mia Wasikowska |
| Evelyn "Evie" Stoker | Nicole Kidman |
| Charles Stoker | Matthew Goode |
| Richard Stoker | Dermot Mulroney |
| Gwendolyn Stoker | Jacki Weaver |
| Mrs McGarrick | Phyllis Somerville |
| Whip Taylor | Alden Ehrenreich |
| Pitts | Lucas Till |
| Sheriff Howard | Ralph Brown (2) |
| Mr Feldman | Harmony Korine |
| role | name |
|---|---|
| Director | Park Chan-wook |
