What Lies Beneath film review

certificate_15

WHAT LIES BENEATH

The teaming up of three of Hollywood's heavyweights, Ford, Pfeiffer and director Robert Zemeckis, is bound to raise expectations going in, which is why it was so pleasant to have those hopes satisfied. Though perhaps pleasant is the wrong word when most of the time is spent anxiously biting your nails, jumping in shock or with your face masked by your hands, sneaking the occasional glimpse between your fingers.

What Lies Beneath is a smart, tense and gripping supernatural thriller that rarely lets up. The multitude of plot twists and turns, each punctuated with a chair leaping moment, are played out to full effect by Ford and Pfeiffer, who bring their customary intelligence and dependability.

Claire Spencer (Pfeiffer) is left alone in their new lakeside house having just tearfully taken their only child Caitlin (Katherine Towne) off to start college. Her husband, Dr Norman Spencer (Ford), is a gifted genetic scientist obsessed with his work though still living in the shadow of his late father. When strange things start happening around the house, Claire first questions her sanity, then their meaning. The vision of a young girl appears, but who is she and why is she contacting her? As Claire begins to search for answers, the relationship between her and her husband becomes increasingly strained.

A scene in a restaurant when Norman flippantly reveals to two friends that Claire thinks their house is haunted, solicits a marvelous reaction from Pfeiffer who looks at turns betrayed and shocked by her husband's casual pronouncement. Later, in a moment when Claire becomes possessed, Pfeiffer switches deftly and convincingly from demure and fragile to sexy psychopath. Such assured performances only help to draw you to the characters and their plight, making their anxieties and fears more resonant. When the identity of the apparition becomes known, Claire's curiosity slowly turns to fear.

One criticism that can be leveled is that by setting itself up as a supernatural thriller, it takes liberties with plausibility and happenstance. And perhaps there are too many cheap shocks courtesy of people suddenly appearing from nowhere or doors opening by themselves, but such devices are the staple of the genre and presumably part of the reason Zemeckis, better known for his family fare like Forrest Gum and Back To The Future, has always vowed to make a suspense film.