Late stage capitalism, global warming and the all encompassing patriarchal policing of woman collide to create a deeply upsetting and nightmarish film
Julianne Moore captures all this perfectly as a women conditioned to complete malaise unable to express herself in a society that discards her the moment she shows any agency or dissent towards her subservient position in the nuclear family. We follow Carol White as she tries to find meaning in a suburban hell of her own making. From the outside she has achieved the american dream.Big house, succesful husband and financial stability. However due to her chronic illness she begins to slip below the surface of this facade and reckon with the hollowness within herself and by extension all of America.
Carol's problem is that she knows she can do something more with her life. Despite following a women the film does an excellent job at uncovering the misogyny at the heart of the "traditional family" Carol wants more she is practically begging to spread her wings throughout the film but is stymied at everyturn by her husband. He uses faux concern for her illness as a way to keep her down. This can easily be compared to the reations you can historically see as a reaction to 2nd wave feminism. Carol is pushed to the fringes of society and in the end all she can do is retreat inward. Safe acts as an extreme cautionary tale about the world we live in and how hard it is to break the status quo without it crushing you.
Great camera work throughout with some inventive framing that evokes the uncanny of McMansions and the liminal spaces that make up the second half of the film. Absolutely chilling final shot too
This film was like a stress headache
SAFE review
