Directed By Andrew Semans

Starring – Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth, Grace Kaufman

The Plot – Margaret’s (Hall) life is in order. She is capable, disciplined, and successful. Everything is under control. That is, until David (Roth) returns, carrying with him the horrors of Margaret’s tortured and mentally manipulated past.

Rated R for adult language, graphic violence and imagery

Resurrection – Official Trailer | HD | IFC Films – YouTube

POSITIVES

In his first directing effort in over a decade, Semans channels a psychological cautionary tale during the MeToo movement that is neither preachy nor manipulative in ways that compromise the depth of the exploration of the journey before us. In commanding such, Semans triggers a tangible sense of dread and tension that constantly maintains attention in the audience throughout, made all the more engaging with his sense of substantial style in the glass decorated walls, sleek cinematography, and meaningful wardrobe that speak volumes about the projection of his female protagonist and the double life of sorts that she leads while maintaining a deep sense of regret with her dark and devastating past. This also includes another immersive musical score, courtesy of the gravely underrated Jim Williams (Possessor, Titane, Raw), who not only conjures audible dimensions and underlining uneasiness to scenes and sequences away from the forefront conflict, but also gifts a series of tones that never feel repetitive within the tracks of its own film or the remarkable work he has done for the aforementioned science fiction juggernauts. As for the impactful turns, Rebecca Hall is once again spellbinding as Margaret, this time carrying a hefty psychological duress that constantly conveys exhaustion in the depth of her performance, but the kind that faithfully maintains the baggage of her dark and devastating former life that haunts her like a commanding possession. Hall’s rich sense of connection and insight into her many looks and frazzled retorts convey meaning in the unraveling of the story long before we pick up the devil of the details, materializing so much more in a look than other actors can convey in a five-minute long-winded dialogue. Tim Roth is also impressive in the antagonist role opposing Hall, bringing a menacing and manipulative bravado that constantly gets under your skin the further the film exploits him, with a toxic dynamic shared with Hall that feels rich with lived-in resentment for each of them. Besides the performances, the themes of the film also inspire a unique and cunning perspective with regards to the challenges that trauma instills, and the distortion of realities that Semans uses to prescribe uncertainty to the audience at home. This certainly leads to unpredictable aspects about the direction of the plot, both in tone and visuals, that will constantly keep you guessing candidly throughout, especially in the transitioning between those second and third acts that feel like completely different films, yet the kind that ride alongside with Margaret’s deteriorating psyche faithfully to an unsettling and unforgiving climax where all of the previously established rules are thrown by the wayside for a conflict that values the metaphorical just as much as it does the frazzled reality.

NEGATIVES

Unfortunately, not everything is copacetic with the values of the screenplay, which certainly cement that Semans (At least in my opinion) is a far better director than he is a writer. At 98 minutes, the film never dragged or bored me throughout, but there is a period late in the second act where the film remains in place for far too long without proceeding the story, leading to a gap of around twenty minutes that does start to feel the weight of length. In my opinion, this is because the script plays its hand far too early in the film, with the first half at times feeling like it’s rushing through the aspects of details that we’re otherwise coherently interpreting with the body language of Hall conveying insight towards a relationship that we haven’t experienced up to that time. If the film paced itself for more of the long run, these moments would flow seamlessly from one to the other, all the while maintaining all of the bottled tension for the aforementioned riveting climax. Speaking of which, while I know some will consider the film’s metaphorical resolution to be a fitting end to the journey of the character, I found the closing scene of the movie unfulfilling with where it leaves the characters. This raises more questions than I’d care to admit about the predicament, especially with the lighting and sound design during the scene obviously conveying that what we’re seeing isn’t exactly reality. It’s a clever touch, in that it proves that trauma isn’t as easy to overcome as confrontation, but not one that always lends itself to the most satisfying resolution to an entertaining piece of cinema, leading to an inevitability in frustration with half of the audience who have invested faithfully in this character. Finally, while there are many relationships and dynamics that Margaret shares with others throughout the film, I wish the one with Roth’s David was more fleshed out to smooth the occasional gaps in logic that I simply couldn’t suppress. During the middle of the film, he starts to exude a control over Margaret that I couldn’t fully buy, regardless of the depth of their previous disparities, and it just sort of elicits a switch of a characteristic for her that happens at what feels like a drop of the hat, bordering on the kind of plot convenience that a film like this should be too good for.

OVERALL
While Semans’ “Resurrection” occasionally mishandles the balance of reality to the metaphorical in its script, the slow-burning psychological thriller made whole by the work of a duo of magnificent performances transcribes a high stakes story about trauma that will inevitably stick with you long after its jaw-dropping conclusion. It’s a film that doesn’t pull its punches, and in doing so fears little about losing half of the audience, who could be alienated by a resolution that is anything but triumphant.

My Grade: 7/10 or B-