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Director: Atom Egoyan
Cast: Liam Neeson, Julianne
Moore, Amanda Seyfried
Run Time: 99 minutes
Country: France/Canada
Year: 2009
Language: English
Rating: 18A (Sexually suggestive scenes)
Turning to a sharply crafted script by Erin Cressida
Wilson for inspiration, Atom Egoyan enters the world of a
well-heeled Toronto couple in his elegant new film. Chloe, a
Gala Presentation at the 2009 Toronto International Film
Festival®, is his most emotionally direct and accessible
work since the Academy Award®-nominated The Sweet
Hereafter. Veteran actors Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson
give standout performances, but it is the sultry youngster,
Amanda Seyfried, who provides the sizzle in this highly entertaining,
mind-bending tale of sexual jealousy in which
appearances belie the truth – perhaps.
Catherine (Moore) and David (Neeson), she a doctor, he
a professor, are at first glance the perfect couple. Happily
married with a talented teenaged son, they appear to have
an idyllic life. But when David misses a flight and his surprise
birthday party, Catherine’s long-simmering suspicions
rise to the surface. Imagining infidelity, she decides to hire
an escort (Seyfried) to seduce her husband and test his
loyalty. Catherine finds herself “directing” Chloe’s encounters
with David, and Chloe’s end of the bargain is to report
back, the descriptions becoming increasingly graphic as
the meetings multiply. Egoyan gradually turns up the heat,
and the relationship between the two women intensifies;
ultimately, no one will remain immune to the forces that
come into play.
Shot in a cool, crystalline style, Chloe is a subtle, supercharged
examination of desire and suspicion between a
husband and wife. Beneath the surface of what should be
a perfect life, a host of emotions are waiting to explode.
Egoyan brilliantly places the cast’s superbly judged performances
against a sharply etched modernist world of
glass and mirrors that ensnares and disorients the protagonists.
But the film is also an unabashed celebration of
Toronto’s landmarks – its streets, hotels, restaurants and
public spaces. One of our master filmmakers takes our
familiar world and turns it upside down. This is a startling,
touching piece of moviemaking.
“Chloe has effectively established itself as an appealingly
(and irresistibly) over-the-top thriller . . .” – David Nusair,
Reel Film Reviews
Reviews: www.metacritic.com/film/titles/chloe
Official Site: www.sonyclassics.com/chloe
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