Film Review: The Nest
© The Nest. 2020, Dir. Sean Durkin
This is a story of a marriage dissolution. It is based on fiction but it sure feels real to me. Opening scene is a lavish farewell party in a tony New York suburb, for Rory and Allison, who are moving with their two kids to London for promising business opportunities for Rory (Jude Law), a smooth-talking, handsome charmer. Rory’s wife Allison (Carrie Coon), a cool blond beauty watches Rory with skepticism and disdain as he swans around the room banging on about how posh their lives will be in London and how glorious their future. To be fair, Rory had to wage an expensive campaign to win her to the move. Allison, an equestrienne and horse trainer has been bribed with the promise of a new barn and a horse. The kids are in open revolt against his autocratic decision of Rory’s. For them, he has bought a huge, gloomy, “gothic” pile in Sussex surrounded by rolling green acres and old forests.
The opening gambit has not gone well. The kids are in open revolt at what they see as domestic tyranny. No one sees this dark and drafty maze of rooms as inviting. As they awkwardly settle into their new life Rory’s behavior becomes erratic, money problems arise as Rory becomes secretive and lies to Allison. At a stuffy business dinner she listens in disbelief as he spins tales of such dubious credibility into increasingly unreceptive ears and finally, she loses it completely. She bolts from the table with a withering look and goes to the discotheque next door, immediately downs two vodkas and throws herself into something close to possession as she dances to save her sanity. This from this seemingly well under-control woman is dramatically out of character. It is a masterful performance and very effective. Little by little the house of cards starts to collapse and it is harrowing to watch the descent. There is one tiny teeny bit of hope in the last scene. It is sadly sweet.
I suppose as long as love dissolves, there will be movies about marriages dissolving. This one happens to be very good. The story is intense yet subtle. The lead actors are perfectly matched in their ability to choose not to see what they see until it is no longer possible. And even as they no longer aim to disguise their reactions and often weaponize their daggers, there is still sufficient restraint to cause tangible tension. All of the locations, the countryside, the interiors are filmed in ravishingly rich colors and flawless art direction. Music from Arcade Fire. The road to hell never looked or sounded so good.
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