***Contains Spoiler****My husband got this movie from our local library, and I had no idea what it was about before watching it. I didn't even read the descriptions on the DVD case. I enjoyed the movie a lot so I was surprised to find the number of negative reviews on IMDb afterward.This movie kept you guessing what is really happening and guessing the motives of each key player, all the way to the end. There are several interpretations I saw in the discussion forum, posted over the years. After reading them I came to feel that most viewers don't understand the complexity of childhood scars, of abandonment issues, and mental health in general, in order to truly appreciate this film and such stories.I find Mara cold-blooded, chilling, and calculating, but then I see that it is only proportional to the cruelty she had to endure from her childhood, revealed in the scene in the hospital. Her genuine love for her friend Kate made me not believe she had killed her, but wanting a revenge on Kate's mother Sophie for rejecting Kate, which led to her death. Imagine how you'd feel as an orphan to see that the mother is featured in magazines as 'supermom'? What hypocrisy! All the appearance of success and perfect mom contrasts sharply with what she knows, that she had not acknowledged an abandoned baby and just went on happily with her life as if it never happened. While some people think the movie should conclude when the two made up, when Sophie said she's Mara's mother and comforted her and that reconciliation saves the day, well, I'm glad it didn't end there. If it did, it'd not have the depth and complexity that made this film above cliché and predictably forgettable. While open to debate what is the right thing to do with unwanted pregnancies, I have met children who are suicidal and never felt worthy of love due to abandonment from their parents, especially their mothers. It is not always a blessing to be born just to be born. The twist at the end showing that Kate is Sophie's daughter, not Mara. I wonder why Sophie didn't ask the hospital for a DNA test to be sure. Perhaps out of guilt, she had to give in and apologize and try to make amends. Mara never claimed Sophie is her mother, Sophie did. I think Mara find it irresistible to the idea to have a mother, as her mother had already rejected her, so she went along with it. So instead of killing Sophie to avenge her best friend Kate, she will have Sophie as her mother.As for Sophie's husband Craig, who appeared to be a supportive husband turns out to be a rather typical male that has a weakness for beautiful young women and can't resist temptations. I thought he was crazy to have Mara over his house while he had Sophie away, but then no, he was not crazy, he was just making things convenient for himself, and of course, he always has excuses. What kind of husband sides with the woman that had his wife on a restraining order and invite her to his house? And asked her to pick up his children? It's as if Sophie was replaced and he's pretty dame happy helping along! This made me wonder if Sophie's father has something to do with why she married a man like Craig. Her father was the one that made her give up her first baby and moved to Australia, the shame made her keeping it a secret that she never told anyone. The open-ended ending makes me look forward to seeing a sequel. Will Sophie find out Mara is not her daughter? Will Craig confess again what he did with Mara? Will Mara succeed in cutting out Sophie's two young daughters? Will forgiveness be complete? Can trust be re-build? Can childhood scars be healed? Can innocence survive?

Dreadful mess of a film. Lousy, mixed up plot, poor direction, strange choice of location, indeed a complete balls up of a film. Why Sarandon, an otherwise decent actress chose the script I can't imagine. Besides that, Sarandon is too old. Sam Neil is wooden, something which does work to his advantage in previous outings but not here. Emily Blunt is best as she is creepy, I suspect in reality too... The worst aspect of this film is it's sheer verbosity; with the dialogue stripped down 80% it would have been less risible. The locations were largely unsuitable, reminding me of Ramsey street; although with some variation and careful camera work their mundane nature could have added some desperately needed tension. The director isn't one I've heard of, hardly surprisingly; I'd suggest they turn to making washing powder commercials.

There are two things that will be clear to you after watching this film.1. Writer/Director Ann Turner can't recognize a good story when it's staring her in the face.2. Susan Sarandon has a tremendous rack.Sophie (Susan Sarandon) is an American expatriate who was brought to Australia by her father when she was just a teenager. Now fully into her middle ages, Sophie is an artist and book illustrator. She's married to Craig (Sam Neill), a successful architect, and has two lovely young daughters named Elly (Joanna Hunt-Prokhovnik) and Ruby (Lauren Mikkor). Sophie's mother recently passed away and she's also struggling with a new project, drawing a memory of sorrow and pain from her past for a new book featuring the work of many artists. Already emotionally unsettled, Sophie notices things going missing and other strange things happening in her home. Eventually, she begins to suspect that Mara (Emily Blunt), the new IT person at Craig's office, is breaking into her home and playing some sort of sinister game with Sophie's family. Now, you may think an IT person who looks like Emily Blunt is more unrealistic than a flying car named Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but that's not the silliest thing you'll see in this film.As Sophie becomes more and more paranoid, she starts following Mara around. She even sneaks into Mara's home and gets caught. That leads to a restraining order against Sophie as even her husband thinks she's losing her marbles. Sophie's behavior becomes more erratic and more extreme, until she's only allowed to have supervised visits with Ruby and Elly. T hen there's a scene where Sophie's dark and painful memory is revealed and that's when the movie gets a lobotomy. After that scene, there's no more mystery or suspense of tension in the story. You know exactly what's going to happen and how the movie is going to end (Hint, Mara is playing a sinister game). There's a fight in a basement that's straight out of Melrose Place. There's a climax that makes no sense, a heartfelt reunion after that which actually makes negative sense and then a twist ending that is laughably stupid.It's too bad this film finishes so poorly, because the first half of it or so verges on being genuinely engrossing. When the story really seems to be about a woman who is emotionally breaking down, haunted by something from her past and losing her grip under the stress of remembering it, Irresistible is fairly good. As Sophie starts to unravel, Sarandon gives us a feminine version of what Michael Douglas did in Falling Down. She shows us a normal woman slowly crumbling under pressure. And if all of her fears and suspicions had turned out to just be in Sophie's head, this might have turned out to be a very good movie. Instead it degenerates into a below average, "woman in peril" Lifetime flick. If Mara's sinister game had just been a figment of Sophie's imagination, then none of Sophie's paranoid observations need to make any sense. But when those suspicions are confirmed, you can't help but recognize that a bunch of stuff that happens in the story is impossible and/or ridiculous.Even as the film heads south, though, Sarandon's bosom remains spectacular. I t may remain covered for the entire movie, but there are still some scenes where her breasts almost qualify as supporting characters. This may be the best performance by clothed boobs in cinematic history. They are that damn impressive.Irresistible is more frustrating than your run of the mill bad movie. It teases you for quite a while with the suggestion you're going to watch something worthwhile, and then smashes those hopes like a hot girl crushing a nerd's dreams on prom night. If Sarandon had actually unleashed her blouse puppies, that might have been forgivable. She didn't, though, so it's not.

I just plain don't get the ending. I wish someone would write a spoiler and let us confused people know what you think. I watched the first 40 and the last 40 minutes of the movie and listened to the rest. I was so unhappy I didn't pay better attention now I am going out of my mind trying to figure it out. However, it was interesting enough to watch on TV. I disagree with it not being worth the time because it had its moments that pulled you back in.Like the party scene. I thought Mara was hitting on Susan and was going to use that to break up the marriage. But, I was wrong.This movie get an eight because I will watch anything with Susan Sarandon in it. Sam Neill is a favorite from long ago but his character was kind of not dynamic. I also thought the children were under-developed. The best character was the older lady who was the neighbor. She kept things together in the movie.