Steven Soderbergh’s swan song

As a medic, I should know the most common side effects of any prescribed medication are nausea and vomiting. Brutally stabbing your husband to death whilst sleep-walking, isn’t usually one of them. But that is exactly what happens when Emily Taylor (Mara) starts on a new course of anti-depressants following her aforementioned husband’s (Tatum) release from prison. She is nervous, constantly anxious, and withdrawn from life, which is what prompts Dr Jonathan Banks (Law) to try out Ablixa.

Life is good again for Emily, she has regained her sex drive, something her insider-trading husband is insanely happy about, given her previous bouts of depression. A couple of harmless episodes of sleepwalking don’t bother him much, that is until he gets a kitchen knife stuck inside him multiple times. Distraught and confused, Emily is still sent to prison and put on trial, with Dr Banks committed to fighting for her acquittal.

But things become more complicated than that. To give more details on further plot development would be giving away far too much, but Steven Soderbergh’s slick little retirement project (he has stated that this will be his last big-screen film – he has one more television movie due to be released later this year) has more twists and turns than what you can see coming. And with every bold jerk to the narrative, the less “believable” it may become. But with a film dressed as a psychosexual thriller, a certain stretch of the imagination is entirely acceptable, and Soderbergh uses every opportunity to take advantage of that.

Controversy surrounds Banks’ practising methods, and soon he finds himself in the middle of a much darker conspiracy than he anticipated. And with Law, Soderbergh finds himself a very convincing helpless victim but one who is not willing to go down without a fight. He’s an intelligent man who puts the pieces together quickly, which is a relief for the audience as the film gets on with its developments. And it gives our victim/protagonist plenty of time to set things right. Law does have the satisfying final laugh in the end, something we all end up supporting.

Mara, hot off her Oscar-nominated success from David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, tackles yet another complex role with dominance. Hers is a particularly ambiguous and challenging one, but this new young talent very skilfully inhabits her duplicitous persona. Essentially the film’s biggest twist rests on this single performance, and she cleverly balances the two main sides to her fascinating lead character: the chilly, calculating, as well as the young and vulnerable.

Zeta-Jones, as Emily’s previous psychiatrist Dr Victoria Siebert, has never been this sizzling nor has she had a role this fun and meaty in recent years. The fact that a seemingly insignificant part is played by such a famous name should give you some cluesas to how much weight she’ll carry in the later scenes. And as more is revealed she becomes a crucial part in the bigger picture, an intriguing piece of the overall puzzle.

With its hazy, dream-like photography, Soderbergh is highly effective in creating a sense of ambiguity throughout his scenes. He doesn’t quite venture into the “what is real, what isn’t real” type of complicated theme but rather stays grounded and involved in the decisions these very human characters make. This also isn’t too interested in having a go at the pharmaceutical industry itself –again, here is a thriller solely focused on its small cast who collectively deliver a stellar piece of work.

The plotting is mostly tight, and the film does verge into the more ridiculous territory as it moves on, and how everything fits together with all the big reveals will no doubt require multiple viewings, having all the facts straight. Whether everything flows smoothly is questionable, but it doesn’t stop the fact that this film is aboslutely bizarre and bonkers, which is just as well, given the subject it handles. And as his retirement project, this is an entirely appropriate way to end Soderbergh’s unique, multiple-genre-conquering directorial career. He will of course be greatly missed from the big screen.