The Wife
A tense drama - 8/10
by The Movie Inspector
A tense drama, The Wife is a great study on the nature of resentment and suppression that is carried by Glenn Close’s powerhouse performance. Every emotion, thought and action crawls up through an unsettling narrative and lets loose during pivotal moments.
This movie is all about Glenn Close’s performance, she takes center stage even when her character is overshadowed by her husbands words and actions. It’s a powerful movie that shows the difficulties women face while trying to succeed in a patriarchal society. The problem is that when other movies try to tackle similar themes of feminism and patriarchy, they often end up with forced messages, two Dimensional characters and a completely uninteresting story. However, this is not the case for this movie, which creates meaning out of every word and scene put on screen. ‘The Wife’ follows Joan, who is set to accompany her husband to Stockholm, where he is to be honored with a noble prize.
From the moment this movie starts, a certain unsettling tone is evident. Whether it’s through the couple’s awkward exchanges, harsh words or clever flashbacks, we as viewers get to fully grasp the situation our characters are dealing with and that allows them to be well developed. So despite the movie kicking off instantly with the main plot line, we can easily understand the issues at hand. Additionally, the tension builds slowly in Joan’s heart and mind and this really creates a great flow. When all the that build up of tension finally reaches the limit , it leads to a climax that places Close in an explosive scene that’ll leave viewers awed.
I can’t forget to applaud Jonathan Pryce who also delivered a powerful performance alongside Close. The movie also highlights the importance of faithfulness and mutual respect within a relationship. However, its main focus is the pressures that women face and the opportunities they’re denied in a patriarchal society. It is towards the climax when our characters speak with hesitation and feel so uncertain about their own choices that we feel the power of this movie. All in all it was a great movie that is worth viewing just for the performances alone.
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