On general release from Fri 01 Mar
Park Chan-Wook / USA/UK / 2012 / 93 min
Park Chan-Wook’s long-awaited English language debut, Stoker, written by Wentworth Miller, focuses on a grieving family to tell a of tale of loss, awakening and secrets. When her beloved father dies on her 18th birthday, India (Mia Wasikowska) and her emotionally distant mother (Nicole Kidman) meet Mia’s long-lost Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode). But Charlie’s arrival and subsequent decision to stay soon unsettle the family and India finds herself increasingly drawn to her uncle, with catastrophic results.
Exploring themes of death, family, mental illness, allusions to incest, sexual awakening and identity, Stoker is a film that promised so much, and yet, delivered so very little. Featuring a cast of strong and well-respected actors and a number of beautiful filming locations, Chan-Wook’s latest work is weak in many places. Dialogue and characterisation is poor from the very beginning, with Kidman, Goode and Wasikowska unable to do anything of note with their one dimensional and unlikable characters. The story too, while very promising, simply takes too long to get going, and becomes annoyingly predictable very quickly. Unlike Chan-Wook’s most famous work, Oldboy, Stoker is a disappointing film which could, with work, be good piece, however, too many different themes and somewhat conventional plot points have lead to the creation of a film that simply cannot live up to the hype generated by Chan-Wook’s previous work.
Showing as part of the Glasgow Film Festival 2013
Follow Amy on Twitter @TrashTaylor