[REVIEW] Resurrection
Movie Content Warning: abuse, gaslighting, domestic violence, psychological abuse, death of a child, violence and gore.
Movie time: 1h 44m
Margaret lives a highly structured life: work, home, look after daughter—rinse, repeat. Everything down to the last minute detail is planned or is orchestrated to ensure that Margaret has control of the situation. Faced with the return of an abusive person from her past, Margaret begins to lose her grip on her sense of stability, the power over her life, and her relationship with her daughter, Abbie. The sophomore directorial release by Andrew Semans explores trauma, gaslighting, and the perils of doing motherhood alone.
While her life is highly structured and complex, Margaret also manages a highly successful position within a medical biotech company. The film opens with her being a shoulder to lean on to a colleague in her team, offering hard to hear advice on leaving toxic relationships, almost the accidental counsellor to the woman. It’s ironic in a way that Margaret is offering this advice as her story of trauma unravels to show how she left a life of abuse behind. Later at a work conference, Margaret catches a glimpse of her abuser, David Moore (played by Tim Roth), the man that sends her into a spiral of panic attacks, paranoia, and fear. The slow and gripping path that the film takes hand out information is intense and is depicted determinedly through Rebecca Hall’s characterisation of Margaret.
Source: Universal Pictures Australia
There is no doubt that Rebecca Hall is magnetic and engrossing with portraying characters that have unreliable arcs in their storytelling. As Margaret, the audience witnesses her brilliant characterisation even if the protagonist is unlikeable and unreliable as the threads start to loosen on her tightly knitted life. With the return of David, her abusive ex-partner, Margaret will go to any length to protect what she has created, including safeguarding her daughter to extreme limits. Hall demonstrates her immense talent showing her oppositional and demeaning personality as she attempts to sever ties with those that rely on her, including work colleagues. Margaret is a demonstration of Hall knowing how to show petrified and projects a character of resilience while simultaneously depicting a woman haunted and tormented by the past. Standing off against the formidable Tim Roth in his role as David demonstrates that the pair are dynamic in their monstrous characterisations. In one scene, Margaret spends 7 minutes detailing the horrific experiences that she endured at the hands of David Moore, it is in this monologue that we find out the heinous acts that David perpetrated and how they lost their child.
Resurrection certainly explores the more dark and macabre aspect to gaslighting and post-traumatic stress disorder. Margaret blames her behaviour on stress and struggles to verbalise her experiences, wedging the issues silently between her and her daughter through being over-protective and paranoid. The film culminates in a third act that is both engrossing and overflowing with chaotic energy. A supernatural element is introduced to the story arc that feels somewhat out of place in the already establish psychological thriller. The ending takes us down a path of the chaotic and imaginative, Margaret taking her opportunity to gain control over her life after almost giving it all up to the sadistic and twisted David.
Resurrection is a tastefully realised and visualised film that takes the audience on a slow burn of a journey through the frantic mind of an individual experiencing trauma. Rebecca Hall masterfully depicts a fraught Margaret who single-handedly pushes and pulls those around her with the intention of managing her safety. The film is a gripping story of trauma, gaslighting, and experiencing the walls caving in around us when we’re feeling unsafe.
AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL 30 NOVEMBER
