Stoker (***1/2 out of ****)

Something is wrong, in the household of the Stoker family and also a bit in the audience. Director Chan-wook Park takes full control in making this a uncomfortable and yet devilishly delicious experience. The film equivalent of a spider crawling up your body.

It is on India Stoker's (Mia Wasikowska) eighteenth birthday that her father is killed in an automobile accident. At his funeral service, India meets the uncle she never knew she had, Charlie Stoker (Matthew Goode). The feelings of confusion and annoyance from his appearance is only worsened when India's mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman) invites Charlie to stay with them for an indefinite amount of time. Charlie is unsettling, there is something he's hiding, his intentions are a mystery. India has just no idea what Charlie entering her life means.

It is in the attention of detail that Stoker most thrives. Heightened sounds and an unusual palette of color (some times absolutely luscious in scope and others bland but never mute) makes it a wonder to the senses. Stoker is a movie looking to create literate. There a vast array of symbolism and troupes at work here. It is a dizzying joy to point each one out. Stoker is a complicated film, there are a lot of layers to the film, not everything is clear at first. In reflection the film only becomes more impressive.  A terrific cast just make it all the better. It is an atmospheric treat. People are born with control over their lives, they are given to it by the parents. It is only in accepting this can freedom be attained.

***1/2 out of ****