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FILM REVIEWS<br />
It’s the kind of performance from Tucker that could adversely<br />
cling to an actor; devoid of any showiness or affectations that<br />
easily signal to the audience that he’s only playing a bad guy. He<br />
merely inhabits someone who’s a monster, skillfully breaking<br />
down Lea’s defenses and exploiting her vulnerabilities, never<br />
betraying his calm and in-control demeanor. The film follows his<br />
lead, eschewing dramatic fireworks and direct confrontations for<br />
understated observations of unguarded moments. It doesn't play<br />
like a traditional cautionary tale or a challenge that’s been<br />
overcome by its young protagonist. Rather, it’s altogether more<br />
sticky and perceptive about the lasting psychological damage<br />
that’s been visited upon Lea. What lingers is the realization of<br />
just how deeply Tom’s claws have been sunk into her, laying the<br />
groundwork for a potential lifetime of codependency and<br />
subjugation. There’s real integrity in the choices that Dack and<br />
co-writer Audrey Findlay have made here, particularly in carving<br />
out a path for hope and liberation while still acknowledging the<br />
gravitational pull of the abyss. <strong>—</strong> ANDREW DIGNAN<br />
DIRECTOR: Jamie Dack; CAST: Lily McInerny, Gretchen Mol,<br />
Jonathan Tucker; DISTRIBUTOR: Momentum Pictures; IN<br />
THEATERS & STREAMING: March 3; RUNTIME: 1 hr. 50 min.<br />
STILL THE WATER<br />
Naomi Kawase<br />
Naomi Kawase's 2014 romance drama Still the Water is never<br />
short on striking imagery. Set in Amami Ôshima, an island off the<br />
southern coast of the Japanese mainland, the film is overflowing<br />
with beautiful shots of crashing waves, misty mountains, and<br />
painterly sunsets. A particularly memorable sequence early on<br />
also captures main character Kyôko (Jun Yoshinga) diving along<br />
the lush seabed which surrounds the island, clad in her schoolgirl<br />
uniform. Kawase briefly suspends her in a twilight world between<br />
dream and reality, her underwater odyssey veering into the<br />
fantastical before she ultimately comes up for air, breaking the<br />
spell. When it comes to setting a mood, Kawase succeeds<br />
handsomely.<br />
Narrative and character are another story. Described by Kawase<br />
herself as her "masterpiece," ahead of its premiere at the 2014<br />
Cannes Film Festival <strong>—</strong> "There is nothing I want more than the<br />
Palme d'Or," she explained. "I have my eyes on nothing else." <strong>—</strong><br />
Still the Water plods along for two uneventful, dreary, and<br />
pompous hours. The characters don't converse as much as they<br />
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