Sanctuary, a film about the power balance in a BDSM arrangement, stars Christopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley, in a hotel-set two-hander with dark psycho-sexual themes. It almost felt like Abbott had made this movie before, or was making a habit of using his deep black eyes and dramatic intensity to be in a ruinous pairing with another actress. And yes, there was Piercing (2018), which partnered Abbott with Mia Wasikowska in an adaptation of a Ryu Murakami novel (the author of Audition) directed by Nicholas Pesce. I had always been meaning to catch up with Piercing in cinemas, and now I am sorry to have missed it on a big screen. Considerably more sick and twisted than what Sanctuary covers, and working within the horror-thriller genre, I found myself more taken with Piercing, particularly the push-and-pull of its narrative, how it kept you on your toes with the oscillating power balance between potential killer and potential victim. We follow a mild-mannered husband and father, Reed (Abbott), close to murdering his own baby son in the opening scene, but redirects his homicidal urges into a secret plan to murder an escort. Booking a hotel and telling his wife that he is out of town on work, the agency sends him Jackie (Wasikowska) who is off-beat in her own way and harbours a dark secret herself. What follows isn’t a simple reversal of the premise – i.e. the hunter becomes the prey – and maintains a dark comedy to its tension: who has the upper hand, and where is this going? Abbott is great at using his wiry intensity to explore weakness and insecurity, and Wasikowska is so underrated in the way she can portray troubled waters while maintaining a placid, sweet demeanour (see also: Stoker and Maps To The Stars). What also caught me off-guard was the use of miniatures for the urban environment, which adds to the overall approach to locate this story in a strange heightened reality, using high style such as split-screens, dream sequences and framing within a fabricated world. Then there was the score, which is comprised of 1970s giallo soundtrack cuts by people like Stelvio Ciprani, Bruno Nicolai and Goblin, complimenting the visual signifiers of the genre such as leather gloves and sharp objects. Unpleasantly violent, wonderfully performed and strangely compelling. Available to stream on SBS On Demand. Recommended.
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