Park Chan-wook directs Stoker, a psychological thriller about sex, loneliness, violence and familial betrayal in his debut English language film.
Not to be confused with the savagely violent Russian gangland film, The Stoker (shot entirely on video), Stoker leads the audience down paths few wish to regularly tread.
It centres around mother (Nicole Kidman) and daughter, India (Mia Wasikowska) in the aftermath of the death of their husband/father respectively.
After the funeral India’s uncle (Matthew Goode), who she never knew existed, comes to stay. Add to the mix the emotionally unstable Kidman with Goode’s creepy charm and all screaming hell is bound to break loose.
As the director of cult classic, Oldboy and vampire flick Thirst, Chan-wook is familiar with plumbing the depths of human depravity and by all accounts, there’s no holding back here either.
There were rumours that Stoker was about a more everyday creature of the night, feasting on the blood of his female pray, and the main characters’ family name is an obvious nod to Bram Stoker.
The film was also co-written by Wentworth Miller (yeah the guy out of Prison Break) under the pseudonym Ted Foulke.
The trailer gives a glimpse into the beautifully haunting Hitchcockian tale and in fact Miller stated Hitchcock’s Shadow Of The Doubt was “the jumping off point” for Stoker.
There are other similarities as both movies feature chilling suspense, double-crossing and even an ‘Uncle Charlie’ character throwing a young woman’s lonely existence into turmoil.
But given Chan-wook’s fondness for pushing the boundaries of cinematic expressionism the Hitchcock comparisons probably end with these vague references.
Stoker is released in UK cinemas on 1 March 2013.
Facebook ::: facebook.com/FoxSearchlightUK
Writtern by ::: Chris Dyer
Twitter ::: @JChrisDyer
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
