‘Resurrection’ Review: Rebecca Hall Terrifies In An Unhinged Psychological Thriller About Gaslighting & The Horrors Of The Past [Sundance]

A blistering psychological thriller and enigmatic horror film that already has Sundance audiences divided thanks to its provocative, polarizing premise, filmmaker Andrew Semans’ “Resurrection” is emotionally searing, wildly unhinged and maybe even a little batshit crazy. However, as anchored by its two fiercely committed and convincing lead performances (Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth), a menacingly disquieting tone, and a frightening ambiguity about a disintegrating mental state, “Resurrection” is a deeply distressing and compelling drama that will shock and shake you to your core.

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Rebecca Hall stars as Margaret, a competent, controlled, higher-up executive at a pharmaceutical company. She’s having an affair at work with a married man (Michael Esper), but with no spouse, it’s a calculated low-stakes concern for her. But things in her life are about to hit a point of grave imbalance. The 18-year-old daughter she raised on her own (Grace Kaufman) is heading off to college soon, and the impending split is causing Margaret to experience some mild worry and discomfort. That anxiety, however, soon transforms into full-on, primal panic attack survival mode upon the sudden return of a mysterious man (Tim Roth), whom Margaret randomly spots from afar at a business conference one day.

As the apprehensive film slowly unspools, the audience eventually learns that the man, David, is Margaret’s lover from 22 years ago—an older, manipulative, malevolent sadist who charmed and insinuated himself into Margaret’s life through her parents when she was just 18 years old. In a devastating, seven-minute one-take monologue about her life, Margaret eventually reveals—to an eager intern whom she’s mentoring and has become motherly towards — that she fled the life she shared with David two decades ago. Trembling in remembrance, she explains how David gaslighted and tortured her for years with a toxic combination of mental, psychological, and emotional abuse that eventually turned towards self-inflicted physical cruelty via punishing tests that David would describe, with wicked irony, as a “kindness.” The kicker—which ventures into spoilers we’ll tread lightly on—is that the two had a baby boy, Benjamin, who died—seemingly as a result of David’s insane malice. Margaret eventually escaped from Canada to the U.S., with the belief that that disturbing chapter of her life was finally over.

However, the mere presence of David in Margaret’s life makes her instantly spiral, and, as skillfully performed by Hall, the woman’s delicate act of unraveling is heartbreaking. While David keeps a safe distance at first, Margaret is well aware that he’s begun skulking around her life again, posing a threat to her and her daughter. Confrontations between the two boil with tension and lacerating dread, but David is careful to never actually threaten, coiling his menace and subtle intimidation into a viciously unnerving grin. Instead, the calculated sociopath lets Margaret make all the threats and plants psychological landmines, distressing her with wild, unbelievable stories that their baby boy is still alive. Kindnesses are demanded, torturous psychological mind games start again, and “Resurrection” begins to feel barbaric before even the dimmest trace of true aggressiveness is depicted.

The less said from here on in, the better. “Resurrection” is a harrowing and unsettling movie better experienced than explained, but suffice it to say, over the course of the story Margaret becomes more and more unhinged, paranoid, delusional, and crazed. The movie’s temperature and tension slowly escalate to an asphyxiating fever pitch that is gnarly, suspension-of-disbelief testing (for many), and profoundly disturbing.

While the fantastical, challenging ending of “Resurrection” will perplex some viewers, the film has psychologically surreal, ambiguous elements, a la Denis Villeneuve’s “Enemy,” that are good signposts to cling to when the film hits its manic, all-bets-are-off crescendo.

Semans’ controlled and sinister filmmaking craft is deeply considered across the board, with breadcrumb teases hinting towards the foreboding and nightmarishly hypnagogic events to come. Cinematically and visually grounded (the film features terrific work by DP Wyatt Garfield), Semans lets the film’s disconcerting sound design act as a faint, subconscious guide towards the surreal and dreamlike (the quietly seething score by “Titane” composer Jim Williams is also chilling). The director is also meticulous in how he reveals, slowly, the film’s intentions. While the milieu it presents is generally minimalist and spare, it’s only when Roth’s character begins to hook his claws back into Margaret’s psyche that the film subtly reveals the brutalist architecture of her offices, quietly imbuing “Resurrection” with another layer of uneasy suffocation.

If the stress-inducing “Resurrection” threatens to lose its way in its audacious third act, it fishhooks itself back into the flesh of the narrative with such fierce persuasion, particularly thanks to the conviction of Hall’s performance—which suffuses her undoing with a shattering, but tragic, dignity—and Roth’s turn, which he imbues with a seductive, even charming, venom. What Semans and the actors innately understand is that the emotional violence that lives within is much more disturbing than anything that could be depicted on screen. Thematically, the picture is layered and rich in its ideas, which include the reviving of dormant traumas, the activation of loss and grief, and even the yearning desire to rekindle a poisoned relationship (personified in the character of David). Brilliantly evoking raw-nerve motherhood anxiety; the terrors of toxic, manipulative relationships; and the anguish that comes with losing control, “Resurrection” is a haunting and visceral depiction of delusion and desperation, sustained by piercing performances from two of the most masterful actors working today.  [A]

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