Movie Review: Eileen

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B+

An excellent modern film noir. 

This movie is first and foremost a character study and this is where it works the best. Eileen is a fascinating character. Through much of the first part of the film, she seems like a sweet, nice and shy young woman. Sure, it is obvious from the start that she has repressed sexual urges (this is emphasized in the very first scene). Yet other than these desires, everything else about her seems so sweet and caring and a world apart from the darker world that surrounds her. Yet as we spend more time with her, we discover that her mind may even be more twisted than the dark world that surrounds her. This is first shown through some scenes where we see her fantasies play out before us. There is no transition to these fantasies, instead they come as sudden and shocking acts of strong violence, only to be followed by a quick snap back to reality. While this is a filmmaking technique, we have seen many times, it is still incredibly effective here. It provides a bit of shock value but in a way that perfectly fits the story and character. The deeper we delve into the dark side of Eileen, the more fascinating she becomes. We may have questions about whether she simply is a dark and twisted soul or if she has been pushed around and/or ignored too many times. However, these questions just make her all the more fascinating. Equally as fascinating are her relationships with two of the other main characters, her alcoholic and cruel father (who literally tells her she is someone who just lives in the background) and a new prison psychologist (Eileen works at a prison) who she develops her first meaningful friendship with and gets an unhealthily obsessive crush on. Both these relationships are very complex and reveal so much about these characters. All of this is added to a simply wonderful performance by Thomasin McKenzie, who is simply incredible as the titular character. This performance adds a real humanity to this dark and complex character. Because of her personality the character, for most of the film, comes off quite sympathetic and very human, despite her dark thoughts. Also wonderful is Anne Hathaway as the psychologist she becomes obsessed with. Her performance is magnetic and draws us to her, the same way Eileen is. The storyline like the characters has many dark and unexcepted turns that really keep you guessing but are still always in service to who the characters are. The dialogue is often very clever and intelligent. The Christmas time setting is also wonderfully used with the use of snow and Christmas lights (and similar decorations) being used not to create a bright and shining look but a dark and unforgiving one. This is excellent done, especially as the snow creates a certain feeling of isolation. 

However, this film does have some problems. Chief among them is that the last act seems to be very rushed. This is strange as the rest of the movie moves at a slower pace. However, with this last act the movie takes an even darker turn that I wish was explored more or given more time to be fully fleshed out. As such it works but it could have packed a much stronger punch. 

Despite any flaws though this is a film that truly keeps you on the edge of your seat, presents us with an incredible main character and features truly great performances.