After her husband gets a job as a psychiatrist in a
Psychiatric hospital, Stella (Natasha Richardson) finds herself drawn to one of
the patients. Edgar (Marton Csokas) was hospitalised after he brutally murdered
and decapitated his wife after she cheated on him, and he now spends his time
fixing up Stella’s glasshouse and giving her many orgasms.
Now, I understand that she’s lacking passion in her life
(her husband is a patronising bastard and I’m sure the only sex they have is
perfunctory) and that this handsome stranger who just has sex with her right
there out in the open is everything she's ever wanted when it comes to sex but can
we just take a step back and look at what’s actually happening. You know he’s a patient,
which means he is still undergoing treatment which means he is currently still
not wholly well so engaging in any relationship with him is not going to be
great for him or you. You also know why he’s a patient, you know that he gets
incredibly jealous and that he killed his wife because of it. I’m not really
sure why you’d think it a good idea to get involved with him at all, even if
the sex is amazing. But alright, I’m willing to accept you fell passionately in
love with him (of which I saw no evidence, acting-wise) and that the fact he’s
not well doesn’t matter to you. What I’m not really sure of is what caused you
to just watch as your son drowned. Were you just in such despair at being apart
from Edgar that you didn’t really pay attention? Or did you not care? Did you
resent your son because you wanted to be with him and with Edgar but you knew
you couldn’t be with both at the same time? I just don’t know.
I’m not sure I’ve seen Natasha Richardson in anything other
than The Parent Trap but she was good in this film. I didn’t really believe
that she passionately loved Edgar but when she had to play dissatisfied and
lonely she did it well. The film itself was a bit bland despite there being
sex and death and suicide. It all just felt like it was plodding along and it
wasn’t that interesting, but I was distracted so that probably had an effect.
6/10
