In ‘Eileen,’ the women fear being consumed by the depths of their cold and cruel surroundings. Their fears come true, and they are in for a deadly reckoning. Based on Ottesa Moshfegh’s novel, ‘Eileen’ is the story of two women (played by Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie) in the heart of an immense tragedy in a small, choking town in Massachusetts. Two women, who couldn’t be any more different, are brought together by an act of shocking transgression.
After its debut at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and limited theatrical release, ‘Eileen’ is now available on VOD. The film successfully captures the novel’s dark, comical tone as Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie drive home the psychological drama with their unnerving performances. The film gains an irrefutable fury towards the end. The banger of an ending still reverberates as we try to make sense of it.
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‘Eileen’ Is A Tale Of Psychotic Obsession
Between resisting the devil of his dad and incorrigible work colleagues, Eileen Dunlop (Thomasin McKenzie) works at a corrections facility for teenage boys. With no prospects on the horizon, she has accepted no longer being a predominant factor in her life. Unfortunately, it is the only life she has, interspersed with frightening fantasies of killing her father. Be it her life or her fantasies, it’s all in her head. But the arrival of Rebecca Saint John (Anne Hathaway) shakes up the core of her stagnant being.
In Rebecca, the reticent Eileen finds a friend and a lover. But as they lean into each other’s lives, they end up pouring poison into each other. It all starts with the psychological evaluation of an inmate, Lee Polk. He is in prison for stabbing his father to death. They become embroiled in inexplicable madness as the fabric of their lives falls apart.
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‘Eileen’: Crime Becomes A Chance At A Better Life
On Christmas Eve, Rebecca invites Eileen for drinks. She is elated to have the invitation, but we learn that the landscape of Rebecca’s festivities is a lie. Jittery, she reveals to Eileen they are in Lee Polk’s house. And that she has held his mother captive. Shocked, Eileen chooses to leave but changes her mind on hearing that Rebecca suspects sexual abuse in the Polk household. Under the threat of being shot, Mrs Polk lays bare her confession and compliance with her husband’s monstrosity.
Perhaps Eileen finally hears her father’s cruelty louder than ever, driving her to poor impulse control. She shoots her. Panicked, Rebecca drugs the mother unconscious. Eileen offers an escape route for herself and Rebecca in the moment of crisis. But the latter makes a run for herself. This doesn’t deter Eileen, who finally gets to leave the wintery inferno by bringing her disappearance to life. For her, the murder becomes the catharsis as it offers her the sunrise beginning she’s been dreaming of.
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