I found this film to be not so much enjoyable to watch, it was intense. I did not agree with other reviewers that the way was making any attempt at misandry. She simply got her point across, in a very calculated manner. I did not find her mentally ill. She's an ignored wife, and she expressed how she felt about it. There is nothing wrong with that. Perhaps her way of doing it was beyond what anyone would imagine could happen to them on their birthday. It' s easy to see that Steve is absorbing her message, he has no real choice. He felt trapped, alone, confused, and isolated. It may be exactly what Alexandra had been feeling for quite some time. I gave it an 8 because it's like nothing I'd ever seen in a film before. I could relate to Alexandra, I once was in that kind of isolated place. Although I simply left.

This film is skillfully made: good acting and a setup that allows for some some suspense and surprises. Otherwise it's a piece of garbage. I say that because I can't divine any intent or purpose for what is little more than a tale of psychological torture. Steve is a married guy with a wife and two children and after receiving a promotion at work he comes home to find his wife and kids gone and him locked in his apartment without means of escape or communication. Conspiring with a swinish technician neighbor his wife has contrived to imprison him in the house. She has left him with a videotape of herself. He plays the tape. At first she does a strip tease for him and then abruptly changes course and launches into a hate-filled rant about how she's been abused by him for their entire marriage and that she's taken the children to parts unknown and he'll never see them again. There are a few more twists, but that is the essence of it. Steve, who thought he had a loving family is reduced to a wreck, tearfully having to listen to his wife's raving accusations. According to her he is an insensitive pig, and she the helpless victim. But the entire setup is false. First of all, in the beginning we don't see Steve as anything but a loving father and husband. And what really does she accuse him of? Of being insensitive to her needs and making unwanted sexual advances. She complains that he's always trying to grope her. Evidently he wants her body but doesn't appreciate her mind. (From what we see of her mind, with its insane vengefulness and cruelty, maybe he was better off having nothing to do with it.) The whole thing doesn't make psychological sense. We are supposed to believe that for 12 years she submitted meekly to his clumsy and repulsive advances without complaint or protest then suddenly she becomes this aggressive, sadistic mastermind of a diabolical plot to humiliate and destroy him. I know it is a fantasy of the feminist left that women are helpless to resist the abuses of their men and any sort of bizarre revenge on the offending males is justified. But it's impossible to believe that this woman was so unhappy and angry with her marriage and submitted for so long, then suddenly became a calculating, avenging Valkyrie. We aren't talking about a woman living under sharia law but a liberated Western woman who would have plenty of recourse in an unhappy marriage long before she had to go literally insane with hatred. The movie gives no real sense of justice or balance. We see a man reduced to rubble, very likely a decent man for all his faults, but we see no moral resolution or even a moral center. The only justification for the wife's actions is her own self-serving, mentally warped rant, much of which may be pure fantasy. Some reviewers have suggested that the movie is actually a condemnation of the wife and her uber-feminist world view. But that isn't clear. That's why I don't think this is a good film. It reminds me of another movie, "Antichrist", a nasty European product in which a wife also goes off her rocker and tortures her husband. Neither movie makes any clear moral point except to fill some voyeuristic need in sick minds to see cruelty in action. In neither movie are we shown men who would by any means merit the cruelty inflicted on them.

The movie starts pretty powerful and suspenseful. But the problem is the twist in the story. And while others do talk about it here, I'm not going the spoiler road. But I will tell you, that everything falls apart with that twist. The main problem being that the viewers feelings have to change (for the characters). But it does not go the full way, so most actions seem ridiculous.Of course you could argue, that some of the things have been done in other movies, without any reasons (none that we are told or as slim as those portrayed here ... slim for the mayhem it seems to have kicked off). But we're not talking about other movies, we are talking about this one. The way the movie starts leaves a few things open. But the way it decides to go, is a path with no redemption. Still nicely done, but not my cup of tea.

Wow! This one takes a page out of Takashi Miike's "Audition" and throws a little Lorena Bobbitt into the mix, Australian style. The film is undeniably well-made. The acting is superb by both leads, and the direction is taut and methodical with a distinct visual style. The contemporary, bitter female "man-hater" is redefined here. We get a very close look at an extremely disturbed woman, and extremely disturbed women can cause a lot of problems, even in reality! I admire the film for its inventiveness and risk-taking attitude. I always appreciate that in a film, whether I end up enjoying it or not. Guys, it might not be a good idea to watch this one with the ladies, but if you're a true cineaste like myself, I'd give it a try.