Netflix Movie Review: Stoker (2013)

(Potential spoilers as always)

So, right now it's a bit of a dead zone release wise. Oh sure there are a few limited releases every now and then, but nothing for wider audiences. So I figured I'd try something a little different and do a review of a movie I saw on Netflix. Now this is American Netflix, so it might not be available on the Canadian Version.

I decided the first one of these to review would be Stoker, the english language debut of South Korean director Park Chan-wook. I went with this one because Mr.Chan-wook actually wrote and directed my second favorite film of all time, Oldboy (The 2003 original, not the so-so Spike Lee remake, also available on Netflix.) We'll do the normal review, but for Netflix titles, I will not let the fact that is available if you already the service influnece my recommendation. I'll treat this as any other film you might have to watch in a theatre or buy on DVD. That said, let's begin.

Plot Summary

Our story begins on the 18th birthday of India (Mia Wasikowska) who, after finding his gift, learns of her fathers death. At the funeral, she spots a man watching from a distance, who arrives at the wake and reveals himself to be her Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode). He stays with India and her mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman), to the discomfort of the head house keeper and others. This is where I stop because everything past this point would just ruin the rest of the film, and this is one of those rare times where I refuse to divulge even a little.

Pros - Mia and Matthew both turn in very good performances. Mia as the shy girl coming into her own, and Matthew as the stranger who you can't quite pinpoint what his intentions are. The look of the film is very good as well, making heavy use of muted colours, in what almost feels like a strangely gothic look of the world despite the fact there's not just huge amounts of the colour black all over.

Cons - It's supposed to be a psychological thriller, but I have to admit it that, at least for me, it didn't have too many tense moments. But then again, I don't think it was going for tension, it's supposed to make you think. It plays out more like an art film in the sense that you have to really watch it. Unlike an artfilm though it does at least fill in the blanks for you rather than it leaving it up to you. The only other complaint I have is I feel Nicole Kidman does an excellent job, but is under utilized a bit.

Final Verdict - 8/10

I have to admit, any movie that takes a psychological thriller type idea, and plays it out as an art film walks a really tight rope. This movie does pull it off, but I get a feeling a lot of people might not like it. It's one of those films that you sort of have to go back and piece it together, although the film does help with that mostly. I actually really like it, and if you think you can handle a sort of strange hybrid of a film, I can easily recommend it.

Don't expect a lot of these Netflix reviews, I mostly did this because I'm going through a bit of a blank spot movie watching wise due to upcoming stuff. But I will be doing reviews on films playing at the Atlantic Film Festival coming up soon. So between the 11th and the 18th expect some reviews of stuff not yet out on the mainstream circuit, I'm really looking forward to it.

So until next time, I'll see you folks at the movies. (Still sure I've heard someone else use that phrase before.)