Eileen: A Noir film with not just one but possibly two Femmes Fatale (depending on how you look at it). This movie strides through the genres: from lesbian romance akin to Carol to Classic Noir to Horror, even a touch of Hitchcock with a soupcon of Black Comedy. Massachusetts, early 1960s Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) is a young secretary in a juvenile prison, she's lonely, dreams of love with one of the young guards, is fascinated by an inmate Lee Polk who killed his father, the Polk family are central to the unfolding of the narrative. Eileen looks after her alcoholic ex-cop father, he's verbally abusive but some of this might be designed to drive hr away to her away, to find a life of her own. A new prison Psychologist, Rebecca (Anne Hathaway) arrives and sweeps Eileen off her feet, takes her drinking and dancing, then involves her on a strange and dangerous situation. There is a plot twist at this point that cannot be revealed here without giving too much of the storey line away. The Classic Noir tinged with Horror takes over at this point, Eileen reveals her own hidden depths of depravity. Matching or even outclassing Rebecca. Her fantasy life has always been quite violent and some of this may have have bled through to influence her real life actions. Great performances from McKenzie. Hathaway and Marin Ireland as Rita Polk, Lee's mother. Directed by William Oldroyd with a screenplay by by Ottessa Moshfegh and Luke Goebel. 8/10.
