Stoker is a bizarre mind F*&^K of a film about Evelyn Stoker (Nicole Kidman) a widow who has just lost her husband (Dermont Mulroney). But worse than that, young India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) has just lost her father, and suddenly her world is closing in around her. She has a sixth sense – a sense of longing – whatever that means, and it becomes more apparent as her creepy, catatonic uncle Charles (Matthew Goode) shows up to live at the mansion. And her mother shows him more love than she shows her child.
Kidman is gorgeous and luminous but unlikable. Though in real life she’s married to that hot Keith Urban, so we can forgive her. Goode’s
role makes him detestable and annoying so we aren’t sure who we’re rooting for….the pastey looking child in saddle shoes and a long face?
The film attempts to play games with us, seducing us into nowhere. It tries to be Lolita. It tires to be a lot of things but mainly its high-concept visuals and artistically crafted shots are too advanced for its own good. It’s a s though its luring us into the bedroom and then straight out the window to a five story drop. In other words, it draws us in and then falls flat. ♛ 1/2