Sundance 2022: Rebecca Hall gives emotional depth to paranoid thriller 'Resurrection'

RESURRECTION
Premiers

Director: Andrew Semans
Screenwriter: Andrew Semans
Starring: Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth, Grace Kaufman, Michael Esper, Angela Wong Carbone

Sundance Synopsis:Margaret (Rebecca Hall) leads a successful and orderly life, perfectly balancing the demands of her busy career and single parenthood to her fiercely independent daughter Abbie. But that careful balance is upended when she glimpses a man she instantly recognizes, an unwelcome shadow from her past. A short time later, she encounters him again. Before long, Margaret starts seeing David (Tim Roth) everywhere — and their meetings appear to be far from an unlucky coincidence. Battling her rising fear, Margaret must confront the monster she’s evaded for two decades who has come to conclude their unfinished business.

Review: Rebecca Hall stars as Margaret, a single mother, who initially appears to be in complete control of every aspect of her and her daughter's lives. A little too in control. When Margaret sees an unwelcomedacquaintance (Tim Roth) from her distant past, her unraveling is quick and painful. Her controlling nature intensifies as the world around her distorts. Some resurrections are less desirable than others.

"Resurrection" is a film built partially on the unreliability of its storyteller. The first act of the film sets up a familiar world where the general mechanics work as you might expect. It isn't until Margaret sees smoke rising from her oven that the audience is asked to either to believe Margaret's point of view, question everything, or at the very least proceed with caution. However, I don't think writer/director Andrew Semans is concerned with truth. He certainly likes the idea of keeping the audience off balance but "Resurrection" is about Margaret's experience and how she reacts to what she believes to be real. I don't see "Resurrection" as a puzzle to be analyzed and solved in the same way asDavid Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" or Christopher Nolan's "Inception."It's simply not that complex. The final act relies heavily on the shock quality of its bizarreness. It's not quite as intellectually challenging as I had hoped. That said, Hall is fantastic. Margaret would have left lesser actors chewing the scenery. Hall goes big when the moment requires it, but she never gives in to the melodrama of the material. She's the most reliable aspect of this unstable thriller.