Chloe

Rating: 7.2/10

Genre: Suspense

Overall value for time and money: 6.8/10

A dark, sensuous suspense film about a married woman convinced that her husband is cheating on her and employed the services of a girl by the name of Chloe to seduce her husband. The movie spans mainly around the 2 female leads, while Liam Neeson was more of a supporting actor to the movie.

The story plot hid well in suspense as the story gradually unfolded itself and even until the very end, it wasn't really that clearcut. I really liked the ending, reminiscence of Shutter Island, and it really brings "dark and erotic" cinema back to the big screens. The last I recalled catching was The Reader, and though the eroticism in this movie wasn't that elaborate visually, the concept of it would drive anyone's testosterone and estrogen levels up. I think this movie excelled in that area, since most of the movies nowadays work mainly on the "visual" areas and none have been this "arty farty" since American Beauty. This movie is more straightforward compared to the latter, but its great in that sense that I didn't have to put extreme thought into the plot.

*major spoilers ahead* It won't take you that long to figure out that Chloe was lying to the wife, Julianne Moore about her husband's affair... and the darkness of the movie comes from the "twisted" sense of arousal and the result of an unlikely affair. The final scene which showed Julianne Moore wearing the hair clip which Chloe gave her really "explained" the hidden plot of the story... which I believe was that her character had a hidden desire and a suppressed fantasy of lesbianism (if that is even a word). The hair clip was a symbol of their love, and despite her rejecting the notion of being in love with Chloe and insisting that their one-night stand was a mistake, she still wore it at the end.

That, I believe, is strong cinema. Similar to Doubt, where even at the very end, the movie keeps you thinking through the subtle and subjective hints it drops you along the way. That way, there's a higher chance that how you percieve the movie will not be the same way as I, or how others perceive it. Good stuff, touchy content and a little shuttering at times but overall I think the execution of the plot was done very tactfully... Great directing complimented with good acting.