Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Year Released: 1991
Rating: 3.0
Lacking zest in her marriage, a young woman (Saskia Reeves) engages in a fleeting affair with her somewhat estranged brother (Clive Owen), but her husband (Alan Rickman) is suspicious. This potential soap opera scenario begins a little awkwardly - it almost feels like Owen and Reeves are lovers from the very beginning (and the taboo-ness is diminished somewhat by not showing them develop from childhood onwards), but the performances are stunning, especially the very young Owen, who (even then) had the cold dead stare perfected. Being an only child, this sort-of thing never applied to me, and friends with opposite gender siblings deny this kind of behavior is conceivable, but my inner psychoanalyst tells me anything is possible (not to mention those taboo sites on the 'net - someone's paying for those simulations of incest, be it brother/sister, mother/son and any combination therein). Actually, my personal feelings towards the topic echo the nonplussed Rickman's right at the finale: really, I don't want to know.
