by Vincent Abbatecola
One question that I have for writer-director Sean Durkin is, “What took you so long?” After his feature filmmaking debut at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival with the tense psychological-thriller, Martha Marcy May Marlene, he became a promising director who seemed prime to give audiences memorable, original stories. However, he hasn’t done any movies since then, and it’s strange to think why that would be, given his obvious talent.
Whatever the case may be, Durkin has finally delivered his second film, The Nest, a thriller that continues to show the depths to which he can explore his characters’ psyches and expose the brokenness within.
After living in America, Rory O’Hara (Jude Law) decides to relocate his wife, Allison (Carrie Coon), and their children, Benjamin (Charlie Shotwell) and Samantha (Oona Roche) to his native England after an irresistible job opportunity arises. Once they’ve lived in their isolated mansion, the seclusion begins to impact them in different ways that threaten the future of their family.
Law imbues his character with a go-getter persona as fortune begins to smile upon him, only to have that persona stripped away as his character becomes obsessive with finding success as it begins to elude him. Rory’s eagerness soon shows signs that it could derail his family, and Law succeeds in unnerving us as he begins to have Rory only think of himself, making us wonder how far his character will fall. It’s a transition that Law masters as he invests us in how Rory’s optimism soon turns into a flaw as he refuses to come to terms with the notion that maybe his goals are out of reach, all of which makes for a character who can be heartrending to watch at times.
Although Coon has appeared in a couple of high-profile dramas over the last few years, like Widows and The Post, she hasn’t really had the chance to shine in a movie role since her breakout supporting performance in Gone Girl back in 2014. However, Durkin has given her a lead role that further exhibits Coon’s talents. Just as Law accomplishes in making us feel the effects that such a move has on his character, so too does Coon. She shows us someone who tries to make the best of the family’s situation, but still exhibits hints of unease with being in a new home. The strong sense of sadness and frustration that we see in Coon later in the movie hits with tremendous power as Allison reaches her breaking point, presenting a stunning and poignant view of a wife and mother who’s trying to hold her family together.
Shotwell and Roche more than hold their own while acting alongside Law and Coon, providing superb dramatic work as they display the psychological impacts of being uprooted to a new place. Despite this movie devoting most of its attention to the strain between Law and Coon’s characters, Shotwell and Roche are still provided with enough screen time to show how their family’s transition to England impacts them just as strongly as their parents. This provides a well-rounded view of how everyone in the family tries to manage this significant lifestyle change.
Just like with Martha Marcy May Marlene, Durkin’s latest screenplay explores the emotional effects of transiting to a whole new environment. However, it also examines themes like searching for success, what it means to sacrifice for success, lost opportunities, and settling for what you have. By tackling these subjects, Durkin makes his film transcend beyond that of your typical domestic drama, instead going for a layered psychological approach as the film dives into the mental states of the characters to show them trying to adjust to their new surroundings. He manages to view all of these topics with equal amounts of attention, offering a complex examination of a family that makes their truest feelings known when the comfortable familiarity of their lives is taken away.
Similar to Jody Lee Lipes’ cinematography in Durkin’s previous movie, Mátyás Erdély’s camerawork in this film utilizes long takes to have interactions between the characters build in tension. There’s an abundance of these shots that make you feel the agitation emanating from the characters as they open up to each other and fracture their relationships that have become tenuous following the move. There’s never a shortage of apprehension in the way that Erdély and Durkin frame the characters and setting, superbly capturing them in the dimly lit interiors and relative emptiness of the mansion, an estate that goes from promising a happy future to deconstructing the lives that reside within.
Once again, Durkin proves to be able to include many subtleties throughout a film, presenting you with a stronger insight into the characters and their situation by placing small, yet important details in the dialogue and technical aspects. He’s able to evoke powerful emotion even in the most subdued scenes, creating intriguing views of people who seem to know each other, but are then placed in a situation where they realize that’s not the case. The Nest takes the notion of “home, sweet home” and has it expose truths in shattering detail.
Grade: A