Fantastic performances from the leads – you can practically hear the eggshells cracking as Ridley tiptoes around the vanities and insecurities of husband Shazad Latif
Photograph: Rob Baker Ashton/Rob Baker Ashton/Signature EntertainmentPhotograph: Rob Baker Ashton/Rob Baker Ashton/Signature Entertainmenthe post Star Wars trajectory is a mixed bag for actors. Maybe you get lucky, go the Harrison Ford route and become one of the shiniest movie stars of your generation. Maybe you’re more of a Mark Hamill type – initially out in the cold, before carving out a niche and going on to cult success.
Ridley plays Anette, a mum to two children, one a babe in arms, and the other, bright young Tilly , a child actor. The kids are lovely, but hubby Ben is an absolute arsehole; touchy, negative, checked out, irritable, he’s the sort of guy who never once asks Anette how her day went, but gets the hump if she doesn’t pander to his every emotional need. And then when she does pander to him, he gets annoyed by her pandering.
It’s a fantastic performance by Latif, who, instead of going the panto villain route, has been smartly directed to play the guy with just enough charm that you can see how she got stuck with him. Ridley is more than a match for Latif; she plays neither outright victim nor warrior woman as Anette settles for a nuanced mixture of passive aggressive jibes and brittle, barely suppressed rage and disappointment that is bone-chilling.
It’s best not to dwell too much on the details of the plot – both from the point of view of enjoying this one unspoiled, and also because the plotting isn’t necessarily the film’s strongest suit. There are a couple of not-quite holes exactly, but slightly threadbare patches. More importantly, the narrative isn’t really the point; this is first and foremost a tense portrait of a toxic relationship, and a brutally compelling one at that.
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