reddiemurf81

Alice (Chastain) and Celine (Hathaway) are both models of the 1960s woman. They are next door neighbor housewives and mothers, catering to and supporting the ambitions of their workaholic husbands. Their young boys Theo and Max are as close as brothers, and spend most waking moments together.

One day, while working in her garden, Alice sees Max standing out on a 2nd story ledge, trying to hang a bird house that he'd built. Frantic, Alice shouts for Max to get off the ledge and get back inside the house. Being a little boy, Max ignores her plea and continues. Alice runs next door, shouting Celine's name (all while Celine is inside vacuuming), and only gets her attention when she runs through the door and up the stairs to Max's room. Only to discover that it's too late.

Both families are devastated at the loss of little Max. Alice and Simon (husband) try their best to be there for Celine and Damian (husband), but of course there's only so much that can be done in a situation like this.

About a month after the funeral, Celine comes around and begins trying to move on. She has Alice & Simon over for drinks, attends bday parties, school functions, even has Theo over to her house.

However, Alice begins to suspect Celine is doing more than just trying to move on.

So,, I'm not going spoil everything. Try and imagine a Hitchcock type of movie made by Lifetime (with a slightly bigger budget), and it has two of the top actresses today playing the lead parts. That's pretty much what we have with this film (imo). Chastain & Hathaway make the film (not that the rest of the cast is bad) worth seeing, bc those two are always worth watching.

I don't want to necessarily compare this to Hitchcock, but it definitely draws some inspiration from his kind of movies.

This is very much a suspenseful kind of thriller. Not in an extreme, high intensity kind of way, but somewhat more of a slow burn.

As I said, Chastain and Hathaway are incredible as always, and the reason to watch.

Annette (Ridley) left her career and life in the city to live in the English countryside with her husband Ben, and focus on being a mother to their daughter Tilly, and their infant son.

Ben is an author, and spends much of his time doing "research" for his books. He even left home to go on a research trip just after he & Annette's son was born. When he is home, he is often dismissive of or ignores Annette, and gaslights her often, that is until he needs her for something.

Matilda (their adorable little daughter) auditions for and lands a role in a movie, where she will be playing the daughter of an famous actress who has run into some slight controversy as of late. On the first day of filming, Ben takes Matilda to the set, and immediately becomes enamored by this leading lady, named Alicia. They strike up a quick friendship and begin exchanging texts.

At home with their son, Annette struggles with her feelings of being alone & isolated, and increasingly becomes paranoid that her husband is stepping out on her.

Now,, I'm not going to spoil anything here. I am going to say that I did not expect to enjoy this movie so much, but I really did. It's not exciting, nor is it fast-paced. It's a very slow burn, to the point that some might find it boring. However, I found it to be quite a captivating slow burn psychological thriller. It has a very minimal cast (barely a dozen or more), the 4 main characters being Annette, Ben, Alicia, and Tilly. The entire cast is great in their roles, however, I agree with what the trailer said. Ridley is very well at her finest (so far) in this.

As I said, this may not be everyone's cup of tea. However, I'd give it a 6.5 rating at the very least.