Genre: Sci-Fi/Mystery/Thriller
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Writers: Lon Charles & Carl Flimmer
Based on the novel The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
Cast: Emma Stone, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Jurnee Smollett, January Jones, Bella Heathcote, Joel McHale, Rebecca Mader, Jesse Williams, Sandra Oh
Plot:
New York City fashion photographer Joanna Eberhart (Emma Stone) is on her way home following a photoshoot. She gets off the subway in Brooklyn, when she is suddenly and violently grabbed by a man and dragged into a custodial closet. The man is about to rape her when she managed to gouge him in the eye with her keys. She runs out of the closet and sprints up the stairway to the city streets above. She waves down a police officer and tells him that she was attacked by a man and tells the officer where to find the man. When the officer opens the closet, he finds a pool of blood but no suspect.
After filing a police report, Joanna returns home where she is comforted by her husband Walter (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Still rattled from the attack, Joanna crawls into bed with their young daughter and goes to sleep. Weeks go by without Joanna willing to leave the house. Finally, Walter presents her with several online articles touting a town in Connecticut called Stepford as the safest place to live in America. Joanna laughs off the idea of leaving the city for suburbia. Walter says he likes being in the city too, but the safety of them and their daughter is much more important to him and asks her to think about it.
Joanna and Walter drive to Stepford and quickly notice that every house has a spacious front porch and picket fence. Walter comments that if Joanna can't feel safe in a place like Stepford, he doesn't know where else they could go. They pull up in front of a house and are greeted by the realtor, Edith Coba (Rebecca Mader). She shows them around their new house, which comes completely furnished with white furniture. Walter asks Joanna what she thinks, but she only comments on the impracticality of the large white sofa.
After unpacking, Walter says they need to get some groceries and asks Joanna if she wants to come with. She declines and sits on the front porch. Their next door neighbor, Bobbie Markowe (Jurnee Smollett), comes over and introduces herself to Joanna, who makes a comment on how Bobbie doesn't look like the other women in Stepford. Bobbie asks if that's a comment on her skin color. Joanna quickly tries to explain that it was about how she's dressed - jeans and a t-shirt - not anything racial. Bobbie tells her to calm down, she was only kidding. Bobbie explains that her husband, James, plays for the New York Knicks and he wanted them to live someplace free from paparazzi - but not too far away from the team's practice facility.
While he is at the grocery store, Walter soon realizes that he is the only man doing any shopping in the entire store and that the carts of the women in the store are all impeccably neat and organized. He quickly makes his purchases and heads out to the parking lot. While he is loading the groceries into the car, Walter is approached by Ted Van Sant (Joel McHale), who asks if he's the new guy in town. Walter confirms. Ted then invites Walter to come golfing at the country club with him the next day to meet some of the other guys in town. When Walter returns home, he finds that Joanna has made a new friend in their neighbor and encourages her to go explore the town with her when he goes golfing.
At the golf course, Ted introduces Walter to some of the other men in town, including the founder and mayor of Stepford Dale Coba (James Spader). Walter asks what inspired Dale to create a place like Stepford. Dale explains that after he made his fortune selling off his tech company, he wanted to find a quiet place to settle down where men could be men and women could be women again. Walter is obviously taken aback by the comment. Dale then tells Walter that must have already met his wife Edith, the town realtor. Meanwhile, Bobbie shows a nervous Joanna around town. Bobbie confesses that she hasn't really done all that much exploring or made many friends in town yet, but there is someone she thinks Joanna should meet. They walk down to the town's recreation center where they find Charmaine Wimperis (January Jones) practicing her tennis. After Charmaine makes a bad shot and loses her match, she proceeds to lose her temper and smash her racket on a wall. Her opponent, Carol Van Sant (Bella Heathcote), calmly walks away. Charmaine is furious, commenting that seemingly overnight Carol basically became a tennis playing robot who doesn't even break a sweat. Bobbie introduces Joanna and Charmaine to each other and suggests they grab some lunch. Over lunch, Charmaine tells Joanna and Bobbie that she moved to Stepford with her husband a year ago, but then he died shortly after and she just hasn't had the heart to move away yet. Charmaine then asks what brought Joanna and her husband to Stepford. Joanna tells them about the attack and fearing the city.
When Joanna returns home, she finds Carol and Edith waiting with fresh-baked pies to officially welcome Joanna and her family to town. They hold the dishes in their bare hands. Joanna takes one of the dishes, but it quickly burns her hand. Carol apologizes, stating that she didn't realize how hot the pie was. She then picks up the pie dish for Joanna and carries it inside for her. Edith follows suit. Joanna asks how they aren't burning their hands on such hot dishes, and Edith suggests that they must bake so much they're used to the heat. Joanna asks Edith and Carol if they would like to stay for some coffee or something, but they both decline, stating they have to be getting home to clean up before their husbands get home from the golf course.
Bobbie's husband, James Markowe (Jesse Williams), returns home from a road trip and is annoyed by the messiness of the house. He makes a comment to Bobbie that sometimes he wishes she'd be more like some of the other wives in Stepford, cleaning their houses and making sure dinner is always ready for their husbands. Bobbie begins crying and storms upstairs. James gets angry and goes out for a few drinks. On his drive back, he loses control of his car and crashes into a parked car where Carol and Ted are having sex. James stumbles out of his car and sees Carol and Ted. Carol’s head has come off in Ted’s lap, revealing sparks and wires coming from the top of Carol’s headless neck. James then notices that he is bleeding from his head before passing out. Ted looks around, unsure of what to do. He calls Dale, who tells Ted to bring every piece of Carol to his office at once. Ted asks what he should do about James, and Dale says to bring him along too. After Ted has left with both Carol and James, Charmaine comes jogging by and sees James’ crashed car and a pool of blood in the street. She sprints to Bobbie’s house to tell her what she has seen and the two of them hurry to the town’s police station to file a report. While Charmaine and Bobbie are explaining what they know, Dale emerges and explains to them that there indeed was a car accident and that all of the involved people were taken to the hospital as a precaution. Bobbie asks if her husband is okay, and Dale assures her he is. Dale then offers to take them both to the hospital personally so they can all check on Bobbie’s husband and the Van Sants.
The next morning, Walter wakes up and smiles as he looks out the bedroom window. Joanna asks him what he’s doing, and he says he is just admiring the view - no traffic, no crime, no homeless people using the streets as a toilet, just birds chirping and. Joanna asks Walter what his plans for the day are, and he says that the guys invited him over to play poker. Joanna is surprised since most of the people in town seem so stiff. Walter laughs and calls his new friends harmless. Joanna says that she has to go back to the city to meet with her psychiatrist. Walter asks her if she wants him to come with her - he can always play poker with the guys some other time. Joanna says she’ll be fine, maybe she’ll ask Bobbie and Charmaine if they want to have a girl’s day in the city. Walter gives Joanna a kiss and goes to wake up their daughter.
Walter arrives at Dale’s house for the card game. Dale, Ted and Walter are drinking scotch while they wait for the other men to arrive for the card game. Edith comes in and gives the three men each a cigar and lights them. Walter tells Dale that he is impressed that he has a wife like Edith who seems to wait on him hand and foot. Dale smiles and says that it just took proper programming. Walter is confused, Dale suggests they all go to his laboratory for a moment to explain. Walter follows Dale and Ted down a stairwell to the basement of the house where they enter a cutting-edge, high-tech lab. In the center of the room, is Carol’s headless body. Walter is speechless. Dale then puts Carol’s head back on and comes back to life. Walter asks if there are others like her. Dale confesses that most of the wives in town have been replaced with better gynoid versions. Walter is aghast at the idea at first, but Ted begins explaining that before Stepford Carol was always depressed and had suicidal thoughts - no amount of doctors or medications seemed to help matters. Dale tells Walter that they all just want the best for their families.
Joanna knocks on Bobbie’s door, but nobody is home. She then goes over to Charmaine’s but nobody is there either. Joanna then heads into the city by herself where she meets with her psychiatrist, Dr. Alice Cho (Sandra Oh). Alice comments that Joanna must be over her agoraphobia since she’s made an office visit for the first time since the attack. Joanna explains that she and Walter have moved to a small, safe town in Connecticut and that the environment seems to be helping her. Alice asks Joanna if she needs a refill of her Prozac. Joanna thinks about it for a long moment before nodding yes to the doctor. As she fills out the prescription, Alice says that she hopes that Joanna won’t need to take the medication for much longer as there is the off-chance of building up a chemical dependency to the drug.
When Joanna returns home, she finds Walter and their daughter are not home. She goes next door and finds that Bobbie is home - wearing a house dress and cooking a pot roast for James. Joanna tries to ask her what happened to her, but Bobbie acts evasive and only wants to talk about cooking or cleaning. Joanna becomes frustrated and slices Bobbie’s arm with a kitchen knife. Bobbie’s arm does not bleed or even appear to notice the cut. Joanna drops the knife and runs out of the house.
Joanna gets into her car and speeds toward the Coba residence. When she arrives, Joanna is let in by Edith who informs her that the men are down in the basement and shows her the way. When Joanna sees Walter, she frantically asks him where their daughter is. Walter tells her to calm down and says that she is safe with Charmaine. Dale interrupts and says that it is quite fortuitous that Joanna arrived when she did as he was just about to present Walter with something special that he made for them. Dale then unveils an exact robotic copy of Joanna. Walter is impressed with how lifelike it looks. Joanna demands to know what is going on. Walter is silent for a moment and then asks Joanna if she wants to make their family work. Joanna says of course, but she doesn’t think she needs to be replaced by some robot for that to happen. Joanna begins walking back up the stairs. Walter sits down and gives Dale a nod. Dale then activates the robotic Joanna, who strangles Joanna to death from behind. Walter cries with his head in his hands. Dale consoles Walter and suggests he look at it as a new beginning for his family.
Some time later, Joanna, Bobbie, Charmaine, Carol and Edith all stand in line at the grocery store. Their carts are all impeccably neat and organized. When Joanna returns home with the groceries, she is greeted with a kiss by Walter. He asks her what’s for dinner and she tells him it’s his favorite: pot roast.
No comments:
Post a Comment