PLOT: A woman (Rebecca Hall) is traumatized when a former abusive partner (Tim Roth) re-enters her life twenty-two years after the fact.
REVIEW: Consider the plot synopsis above. Does anything about that admittedly familiar-sounding premise suggest David Cronenberg references and body horror? Sure enough, Andrew Semans’ Resurrection stands as perhaps the most unexpectedly awesome movie I saw at Sundance this year. It’s another entree into genre for star Rebecca Hall, who continues to make cool choices as far as her performances go, with this perhaps featuring her most riveting role to date.
Her character, Margaret, seems to have it all together. She has a high-powered job and serves as a de facto therapist for a staff intern who’s found herself in a psychologically abusive relationship. Yet, there are cracks, with her engaging in a long affair with a married colleague (Michael Esper) whose growing affection she shrugs off. At the same time, she’s a helicopter parent to her seventeen-year-old daughter, Abbie (Grace Kaufman), who bristles at her mother’s constant intrusions.
When Roth’s David re-enters the picture, this seems to be going down the route of being a straightforward psychological thriller, but then Margaret starts having dreams about babies being cooked in ovens (yep) while David tells her he has their dead child living in his stomach. Yes, folks, it takes a turn.
Indeed, it’s when Resurrection starts to go Grand Guignol that it becomes a horror movie to make a note of. It’s probably too weird to really explode into the mainstream (IFC and Shudder went partners on it – which is a good platform for it). Still, it’s so strange that to me, it immediately establishes Semans as a significant figure to watch.
Directed with a sophisticated visual style that eschews the typical stylized horror look for something more realistic, the low-key pacing and approach are probably what makes Resurrection so shocking once the big pivot happens. Of course, it helps that the acting is incredible, with Hall expertly conveying one woman’s complete unravelling. She plays it so convincingly that you sometimes wonder if she, as the heroine, is a reliable narrator and if what we’re seeing is only happening in her mind.
Meanwhile, Tim Roth’s David is a figure of pure evil. A former scientist, he expertly groomed young Margaret to become his plaything, with him demanding sadistic acts he calls “kindnesses” to break her down. Roth seems to relish the part. Michael Esper also evokes a lot of sympathy for what could have been a by the numbers part, as the married man Margeret is seeing, with him evoking concern and care for her despite everything. Kaufman is excellent, too, as Margaret’s daughter Abby, who becomes increasingly frightened when her mom starts acting like a lunatic.
It all adds up to one of the most delicious, horror-tinged treats to emerge from this year’s Sundance. While Hall’s growing status as a director probably means she’ll be finding less time to act, she continues to choose excellent genre parts and, I think, is award-worthy here, even if the fact that its horror will mean it never gets the critical attention it merits. Too bad, as both she and this movie deserve a whole lot of credit.