Director Lucky McKee is a vastly under rated commodity in Hollywood. Whether it's his films May, The Woods, or the best episode of the Masters Of Horror TV series 'Sick Girl' the guy knows how to weave horror, female-centric character studies coupled with the blackest of humour. His latest, The Woman, takes his vision to even more brutal and extreme limits in a tale of a feral woman that is abducted by a seemingly civilized rural family.
It's an exploration of the attitudes towards women in society from the fiercely independent, as seen in Pollyanna McIntosh's feral woman of the title, to the beaten wife and the sexually abused daughter, and how those attitudes are passed down to the next generation from father to son. There are great performances throughout, notably from McKee regular Angela Bettis (who can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned) but it's Sean Bridgers as Chris Cleek, the dominant head of the family, who's the real standout. He mixes a down to earth, laid back charm with brief, angry bursts of violence when a female steps out of line. It's a tough role to pull off but Bridgers manages to convince this isn't a simply evil man (although what he does is despicable)but one with a morally outdated and twisted worldview.
The Woman is sometimes graphic, often shocking in it's content and occasionally a little uncomfortable to watch. But then, that's life. Let's not forget that in some parts of the world women are treated as bad as this, if not worse. Cheap exploitation this is not. McKee might be lucky in name but luck has nothing to do with how good this is.
1 comment:
A great movie. Smart, scary, brutal, artistic, challenging. Gotta love Lucky McKee. I'm a big fan. Plus we get to see the awesome Angela Bettis, his friend and muse, on screen again. I just wish he made more movies.
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