Eileen (2023) review

Sexually-repressed Eileen Dunlop (Thomasin McKenzie, sporting a Boston accent), who lives with her emotionally abusive (and alcoholic) ex-cop father Jim (Shea Whigham), works at a youth detention center and is attracted to security guard Randy (Owen Teague) ... but when Harvard-trained prison psychologist Rebecca (Anne Hathaway) is hired by the facility, both ladies start to spend time together and Eileen becomes infatuated with her.  The first two acts are like a slightly more approachable variation on Todd Haynes' Carol (with the "secret" lesbian relationship) but the last part shifts the movie from character study to a slapdash kidnapping story, in which Rebecca ties up widowed mom Mrs. Polk (Marin Ireland) and accuses her of allowing her son (Sam Nivola) to be sexually abused.  Still, the cast is excellent, with Ms. McKenzie leading the way: her sudden (and jarring) violent fantasies reflect a rather tumultuous inner life (despite her subdued outer disposition).