“The Nest,” director Sean Durkin’s follow-up to his acclaimed 2011 feature “Martha Marcy May Marlene” premiered at Sundance in January to mostly positive reviews. I was told it would be part of Cannes’ Un Certain regard selection. Alas, that film festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. IFC Films will release the film on VOD this Friday,
Here’s what I had to say about “The Nest” in my back at Sundance 2020:
Sean Durkin’s “The Nest” was met with tepid applause at its world premiere screening last night at the Eccles Theater. It’s not that Durkin’s slow-burn-of-a-movie is bad, actually, it’s quite good, an artfully rendered take on the disintegration of a family. It’s just that the film goes by its own rhythms and may test the patience of restless audiences expecting something that is plot-heavy. Rory (Jude Law) and Allison (Carrie Coon) are a well-off NYC-based couple whose life couldn’t be filled with more wealth and happiness. Or so it seems. He’s a successful commodities broker, she’s a freelance horse trainer, together they have a son and a daughter. Things couldn’t be peachier. However, Once Rory moves Allison and the kids to London because of a new job, things start to deteriorate badly. Sure, they now have a huge mansion, she gets her own personal horse, and the kids end up going to the most elite of schools, but something seems a little off. Rory’s lies start to get exposed, Allison starts to rebel against the deception, whilst the kids see mom acting up and decide to do the same at school. Durkin, much like he did in his excellent “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” uses mostly wide and medium angle shots, there is nary a close-up here. The atmosphere is filled with dread as we, the audience, must learn to expect the unexpected. The last half hour of the film is when the slow build-up delivers scathing thrills in unexpected ways. Coon, a commendably underrated actress, gives her best performance to date as Allison, a repressed wife who starts to realize that the privilege she’s been seeking her entire life, and finally got by marrying Rory years ago, may be too toxic to live with. [B+]