Stoker is the striking English language debut of Korean master auteur Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, Vengeance Trilogy, Joint Security Area). He conjures up a brilliant mystery (not exactly a whodunit) which could as well be his personal ode to the master of suspense, Hitchcock.
Stoker is the story set in a wealthy Connecticut family living in a huge mansion surrounded by sprawling woods. India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) is distraught when her beloved father Richard Stoker (Dermot Mulroney), with whom she shared a (perhaps her only) close relationship, dies in a car accident, on her eighteenth birthday. A shocked India and her grieving mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman), with whom she has a frosty relationship, are joined at the funeral by her Uncle Charlie (Mathew Goode) whose existence she was hitherto unaware of. When the enigmatic Charlie quickly wins over Evelyn with his wit and charms his way into the family's fold, India feels a rising sense of uneasiness and fails to warm upto him. Nevertheless, she also a senses a strange connect with him even as he goes overboard to be caring and protective of them. India also senses a similar sense of discomfort is shared by her caretaker and her visiting aunt Gwendolyn (Jackie Weaver) towards Uncle Charlie. Curiously, both of the caretaker and the aunt go missing without a trace. Without revealing any further, let me just add that the title of movie refers to more than just the name of the family at the center of all action here. And no, it does not refer to Bram Stoker or Dracula and none of the characters jump to take a bite at other's throats.
Is Uncle Charlie plainly eccentric or is there something even more sinister to him ? Is he actually the globetrotter he claims to be ? Why hasn't he ever made any contact with any of them in all these years till the untimely death of India's father ? Is Evelyn just an emotionally fickle person who merely leans on the shoulder of Charlie for emotional support ? And, what does one make of India herself, with her reticence and compulsive aloofness ? What should one make of her inherently paradoxical connect to her eerie Uncle, her lurking aggression and her acute sensory gifts ?
The rest of the movie unravels answers to all these questions and more through meticulously mounted frames, rich with details, where Park works on the deepening mystery surrounding the Stoker family. The viewer is made continuously aware that there is more to these characters than what meets the eye and their curiosity is piqued to decipher their actions and motives.
The three main leads, aptly cast, have played their parts beautifully portraying the necessary level of ambiguity about the characters and are successful in keeping the viewer engrossed and guessing. Mia Wasikowska is first rate as India Stoker packing several layers of nuances under her apparent plain looks. She puts in a riveting performance as the lonesome, serious and introverted teenager who is curious about the mysterious happenings around her as well as within her. Nicole Kidman is convincing as an emotional messed up woman with a chilly relationship with her daughter. Mathew Goode is exceptional as he brings to life a twisted character who oozes charm and eerie menace in equal measure.
While there is no doubt that this a well concocted mystery, it is indeed the atmospherics that Park builds up the tension with each passing frame that make this movie outstanding. He seems an artist working intricately at each of his visuals to create the eerie aura of rising suspense and tension. He is assisted in his task by brilliant cinematography and a potent score - check out the scene at the piano when India is interrupted and later, joined by Charlie. While Park is well known for his stylish, bloody and twisted stories of vengeance, the violence in Stoker, save for a few parts, is confined almost exclusively in the psychological sphere, which makes it all the more effective. It is the mastery of Park that he successfully maintains the aura of unease and nervous expectation of an impending explosive event throughout the course of the movie.
Stoker works on a subtle level and straddles more than one genre in a manner that is so unique to it's master director. It delves into the dark recesses of the human mind and presents its punches in an unhurried manner even as it keeps the viewers on the edge with each unfolding disturbing twist of event.
Overall, this is a SUPERB, twisted, gothic and accomplished thriller from a master in his prime that is sure to spook the viewers even as it keeps them glued and guessing.
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