Stoker is a delightfully malicious movie. I haven't seen a movie this joyously, terrifically evil since Hitchcock gave us the killer-in-the-potato-wagon sequence in Frenzy. It proves that Park Chan-wook is as excellent a director of American thrillers as he is of Korean ones.
India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) is an introverted young girl who's just lost her father (Dermot Mulroney) on her 18th birthday. Her relationship with her mother, Evelyn (Nicole Kidman), is not ideal, and their tension is exacerbated when her estranged Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode) shows up at the funeral and becomes, shall we say, a little too cozy in her father's house (and clothes, no less).
I won't reveal the slightest bit more about the plot. The screenplay, by actor Wentworth Miller, is not the most original, but it finds genuine life in its three lead characters. What sets the movie apart is director Park's attention to detail. Note how he toys with characters' statuses in his framing by having some appear taller than others. How recurring images are meant to bring certain occurrences to mind. How he uses shoes to suggest the passage of time. How he makes the Stokers' gigantic mansion into a labyrinth-like setting in which characters disappear to one side and enter from another.
Wasikowska is perfect as India, and gracefully balances innocence, curiosity, and malevolence as the story progresses. Kidman has a difficult role that might have seemed inauthentic from a less talented actress; when the entire plot has been revealed, we look back at her performance and realize she hasn't missed a beat.
However, the most chilling memory the movie brings is of Goode as the mysterious Charlie. He is deserving of an Oscar for his work here, though the Academy may not remember this film at the end of the year. Park makes even his clean-cutness into a warning sign, kind of like the two invaders in Funny Games. Though it's a while before we figure out his aim, there's always a little bit too much of him for comfort. He's always present, observing, offering India a little too much help. The way in which Park shows him casually seducing both mother and daughter, simultaneously and in different ways, is brilliantly understated. If you're a Hitchcock fan, you know that the character's name is no coincidence.
**** out of ****
NOTE: I usually post the trailer along with my reviews. In this case I suggest you avoid it and just see this film. The trailer gives away too much.
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