Film Review: EILEEN (2023): Anne Hathaway is Solid in a Slow-Moving Noirish Thriller That Lacks Punch

Eileen Review

Eileen (2023) Film Review, a movie directed by William Oldroyd, written by Luke Goebel and Ottessa Moshfegh and starring Anne Hathaway, Thomasin McKenzie, Shea Whigham, Marin Ireland, Sam Nivola, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Tonye Patano, William Hill, Owen Teague, Peter McRobbie, Patrick Noonan, Jefferson White, Alexander Jameson, Patrick Ryan Wood and Gavin K. Barfield.

Eileen, directed by William Oldroyd, is a very slow-moving noirish drama filled with tension that never really crackles despite its promising premise. That’s a shame because Thomasin McKenzie is always intriguing to watch and plays the title role here with some interesting and unusual character traits that differentiate her from your typical movie character. Her co-star, Anne Hathaway, gets to revel in a performance that also never delivers on the promises it sets in the early stages of the picture. It’s a really good role for Hathaway but the script betrays her with an ending that feels curiously incomplete.

The film is set in Boston during the 1960’s where we meet Eileen Dunlop (McKenzie) who is a secretary at a correctional facility for young boys. At one point, she masturbates while outside of her home where she lives with her heavy-drinking dad, Jim (Shea Whigham), a paranoid former cop who is now unemployed. Needless to say, Eileen isn’t living her best life. She spends most of her day at work feeling uncomfortable, engaging in odd conversations and doing mundane tasks. One of her very annoying co-workers is played to perfection by the character actress, Siobhan Fallon Hogan. The setting of the movie is very important to understanding what is going to happen. There’s a good reason why the film is set where it is.

The plot gets under way as Rebecca, a psychologist played by Hathaway, comes on board. A sophisticated woman who Eileen becomes fascinated with, Rebecca is the type of movie character that leaps off the screen. One scene has her trying to open a beer bottle and Hathaway proves she knows how to ham it up in sequences like this one.

Enter Lee Polk (Sam Nivola), a guy who apparently killed his dad. Marin Ireland serves as Mrs. Polk, Lee’s mother who is hiding a very distressing secret. These two characters serve as catalysts for the picture’s plot to take off.

Eileen and Rebecca get to know one another and develop a connection that is fascinating to see develop during the course of the film. Meanwhile, Jim drinks like a fish and Eileen is told that he needs to stop or he will die. Eileen becomes consumed by Rebecca who has a darker side to her bright intelligence which is soon revealed.

Ireland’s mother character becomes a key player in the movie’s story line. Ireland plays the part wonderfully with a wide range of emotional character development displayed on screen. Hathaway’s character sort of gets lost in the shuffle and the movie becomes Eileen’s story as she looks for a way to change her life under very grueling circumstances. Can she escape her depressing life through her interaction with Rebecca? Maybe but not in a happily-ever-after fashion as you may expect from the movie’s somber tone which manifests itself throughout the duration of the picture.

Eileen is not a bad film but it’s flat. It has scenes of great tension that promise much more than what the film actually delivers by the time the credits roll. It has all the ingredients of a good film, especially its amazing principal cast. In the end, audiences may come to feel that there’s a large chunk of scenes that were left on the cutting room floor because the movie feels like it’s missing a reel or two. Such is the nature of certain independent movies that have clever premises that aren’t fully fleshed out. Eileen is such a picture.

McKenzie sinks her teeth into a juicy leading role. It’s easy to see why she was cast even though she may be a bit too glamorous for the part. Audiences have to believe Rebecca would talk to her and interact with her so she needs to at least appear appealing, especially with all her depressive tendencies. Hathaway is strong but it often feels like the actress was only obligated to shoot a certain amount of scenes so she isn’t on screen as much as she should be for a pivotal role like the one she has here to work as well as it should.

Still, Eileen is a curiosity piece for fans of its stars or fans of film noir. It’s not a movie that has a lot of substance in actuality at the end of the day but provokes thought from the viewer through the topics it addresses, particularly that of abuse and parental responsibilities towards their children. It would have helped if the movie didn’t move at a snail’s pace, though. Eileen is nothing less than an interesting story of a lost soul trying to make a life for herself under very disconcerting circumstances. McKenzie and Hathaway are in good form but the movie can probably wait to be seen on a streaming service rather than heading out to a theater to see it.

Rating: 6/10

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