Thoughts on: Stoker


Stoker aims to be unsettling, and it pulls it off in spades. From the mysterious plot, to the ever-so-slightly odd camera angles and camera movements, it achieves something that is surprisingly difficult: everything feels “off”, but you can’t really put your finger on it. You simultaneously feel uncomfortable but intrigued about what the hell is going on. Thankfully, the ending is extremely satisfying (with some great juxtaposition to the introduction), making it all worth it.

While solid, the script occasionally seems pretty average when compared to the excellence of everything else, but this is a tiny complaint. A much larger complaint however, is that what should have been a powerful monologue was ruined by the trailer showing the punchline. I concede that that’s not directly a fault in the movie, but it was extremely annoying nonetheless. Fortunately the acting more than makes up for any dialogue complaints, and Mia Wasikowska impresses me more with every movie I see her in.

If you love mystery and the idea of an extremely unsettling story sounds up your alley, then this is the movie for you.

8/10

PS. If you're noticing a lot of high scores, don't worry: I take my scoring seriously, but I also only watch movies that I'm fairly confident I'll enjoy.


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