"Stoker" Review

Stocker follows India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska), an estranged high school senior who loses her father and best friend to a freak car accident on her 18th birthday. Evelyn (Nicole Kidman), India's distant and emotionally unstable mother, welcomes the support of Charles, her late husband’s distant brother -- whose existence is unfamiliar to India until he mysteriously appears at the wake wearing a light-colored suit -- into their home. As the haunting details about Charles surface, India's infatuation with him blossoms. 

Stoker
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode
Directed by Chan-Wook Park
My Opinion: Fuck Yeah

Chan-Wook Park's new horror is reminiscent of his past films, including Old Boy, Thirst, and Three Extremes, but it certainly leaps into a league of its own. Though Stoker was quickly criticized for having a "weak" script in comparison to Park's earlier work, this is not an opinion that I share. I am always looking for a high-quality script, but here Park chooses a visual method of storytelling. There are a few scenes that have hardly any dialogue at all, yet the vibrant, stylized cinematography controls the narrative, illustrating the portentous development of a troubled young adult. Park's scrupulous attention to detail fetishizes both incest and the cold heart of a killer, which makes the film all the more alluring and simultaneously creepy (for some). Park's work is utterly sopping in symbolism and I look forward to deciphering further upon my second viewing.

Aside from the dazzling film work, the performances are equally shiver-inducing. Kidman does an incredible job as a widower, desperate for love and affection. Kidman's execution alongside Wasikowska painted a dark but exposed portrayal of a pained mother-daughter relationship. On her own, Wasikowska artfully represents a dangerous young girl in a performance that very much reminded me of Catherine Deneuve in Roman Polanski's Repulsion.

A horror film that is artful and thoroughly meditated, Stoker crawls beneath your skin and leaves a lasting and beautiful impression. Bravo.