Thursday Movie Picks: Domestic Thrillers
This week's theme from Wandering Through The Shelves is domestic thrillers. Even though this is a pretty broad category, I struggled with it a bit. I might be reaching a little on the "thriller" part of this, but here's what I came up with.
1) The Gift
A married couple's life is thrown for a loop when an old friend shows up bearing gifts. Honestly, I had pretty low expectations for this movie but it ended up being so good and completely disturbing. Joel Edgerton, Rebecca Hall, and Jason Bateman were all excellent.
2) Swallow
A woman stuck in a mundane marriage starts swallowing random objects to regain control. This film is one of the most beautifully shot of 2020 so far and while it may not be a traditional thriller per say, you're constantly on edge thinking about what could happen to Hunter next.
3) Hard Candy
This one doesn't involve a married couple, but a man who lures a 14 year old girl to his home when she has other plans in mind. It has all the makings of a domestic thriller. I found the response to this film when it first came out interesting. It was before I blogged, but I feel like every guy that saw this film absolutely hated it while every woman adored it. I'm sure in the blogging community it's much more even keeled but in my small town. This was pretty polarizing.
You're the second person I've seen recommend Swallow, so on the list it goes.
ReplyDeleteI'll break the mold on Hard Candy, although I don't live in your town. I think it's a brilliant thriller and probably Ellen Page's best work on camera. It's also worth noting that the person who first recommended it to me was also male. You're probably right about it--film nerds of any gender are more likely to respect the film (at least) than the general public.
Oh for sure, I just thought it was hilarious how many of my male friends at the time hated in this movie. I'm sure now that they're all older they might feel differently. Hopefully, anyways.
DeleteCheck out Swallow!
I haven't seen any of these.
ReplyDeleteI want to see The Gift but haven't gotten to it yet. Hard Candy on the other hand looked icky to me when it came out and still does to be honest so I'm still going to give it a pass.
Swallow is one I haven't heard of until now. It sounds odd.
At first I wasn't sure if domestic thriller meant espionage set on the soil of your country or conflict set in the home. I decided it was the latter which made it much easier to come up with these three.
Rear Window (1954)-Photo-journalist “Jeff” Jeffries, wheelchair bound because of a badly broken leg combats the boredom of being confined to his apartment by watching the activities of his neighbors though his rear window. Late one night he thinks he witnesses one of them, Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), murder his wife but initially has trouble convincing anyone of the fact. Slowly with the help of his acerbic nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter) and fashion model girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly) he starts to put the pieces together but when Thorwald begins to suspect Jeff knows something the tables are dangerously turned.
Deceived (1991)-Art restorer Adrienne (Goldie Hawn) and museum curator Jack Saunders (John Heard) have a seemingly perfect life living in their restored New York City loft with their daughter Mary. But that life is thrown into turmoil when Jack’s boss dies under questionable circumstances. Jack starts acting strangely then suddenly leaves town purportedly on business raising Adrienne’s suspicions. Before he returns he is apparently killed in a car crash but when Adrienne files for his death benefits it turns out “Jack Saunders” died in a plane crash 20 years ago. So who was the man she married? As she searches for answers the truth becomes increasingly dark and very perilous.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)-Young Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and struggling actor husband Guy (John Cassavetes) move into a New York City apartment building of sinister repute. When their odd new neighbors, Roman and Minnie Castavet (Sidney Blackmer & Ruth Gordon) become overly familiar Rosemary tries to back away but Guy, suddenly successful, welcomes them. Rosemary, now pregnant, becomes increasingly isolated and the diabolical truth of the matter is revealed only after Rosemary gives birth. One of Roman Polanski’s best films permeated with a sense of dread.
Swallow is really interesting, I definitely recommend checking it out. For your picks, I LOVE Rear Window! I was just commenting on Allie's blog about Rosemary's Baby, I need to finish watching that. I know I haven't seen all of it.
DeleteHard Candy... that one hit so hard. Wow. Still love it though.. like.. not sure they'd make such a movie now anymore. :D
ReplyDeleteEllen Page was such a powerhouse in that. Excellent performance.
DeleteWe share a pick with Hard Candy. I'm a dude and I thought the film was awesome. I haven't seen The Gift nor Swallow but I heard really good things about both films.
ReplyDeleteYou're a man of taste lol
DeleteI'm glad you mentioned The Gift. I'm like you, totally surprised at how well it turned out.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind watching it again, in fact. It's been a while.
DeleteYup, I haven’t seen any of these but would like to see The Gift. What else was Joel Everton in? I have to look it up. The last movie looks good too. The middle one where she eats stuff, obviously she has issues and we know this does actually exist where people eat strange things but I don’t think I want to see this one.
ReplyDeleteEdgerton is good in everything. Love that guy.
DeleteI’ve been meaning to watch The Gift for the longest time because of Bateman but I still haven’t watched it because I was afraid it’d be bad. I’m glad to hear it’s not.
ReplyDeleteThe Gift is one I want to watch too, it sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get to check it out.
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