#REVIEW: “EILEEN”

By Mr. Will Wong

Based on Odessa Moshfegh‘s Novel of the same name, William Oldroyd’s EILEEN is a gorgeous, twisty Film Noir, led by a pair of phenomenal performances from our two leads.

Set in New England, during the ’60s, we meet Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) who works at the local prison as a secretary. She is the caretaker of her alcoholic father (Shea Whigham) who actually is quite horrible to her, and she fantasizes of trysts with a guard at the prison. Her uneventful world is turned upside down with the arrival of a vivacious Counsellor named Rebecca (Anne Hathaway), who brings out sides of Eileen‘s personality she never knew existed.

Think 2015 Romance CAROL, equally stylish but much, much darker.  EILEEN is not afraid to expose the frays of its fabric, whereas the former tucks its corners neatly and tidily. McKenzie continues to impress, building a catalog of work that is both challenging and complex, doing all the heavy lifting with an understated strength. Hathaway is mesmerizing, influencing impressionable Eileen, yet also soothing a deep loneliness within.  Our leads are a perfect pairing.

The Film explores the over-arching idea of a prison within a prison where Eileen and Rebecca are ‘imprisoned’ by the dire circumstances by which they are surrounded in their work and personal lives. But when they are together, feeding off one another’s energy, they are free from all that, and hence things suppressed within Eileen are unleashed. Oldroyd crafts a world that feels sexy, where danger is imminent as Eileen’s world unravels and she becomes who she is destined to be.

Elevation Pictures release EILEEN in theatres December 8, 2023.