Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Zachary Wigon
Starring: Margaret Qualley, Christopher Abbott
Christopher Abbott's favourite play must surely be David Ives' Venus
in Fur, as the actor has now made two movies that are practically unofficial
adaptations of that stage work, which was inspired by Leopold von
Sacher-Masoch's 1870 novel Venus in Furs. That novel gave us the term
"masochism," after its author's surname, and it deals with a man who
willingly enslaves himself to a physically cruel woman. Ives' stage
adaptation reworked the book into a tale of a male director who finds
himself undermined and infatuated by an enigmatic actress who seems to
understand his work better than he does. A few years ago Abbott starred in
Piercing, in which he played a businessman who hires a young prostitute whom he
plans to murder, only for her to turn the tables on him in a violent,
dominant fashion which he seems to enjoy.
Director Zachary Wigon's Sanctuary sees the nervy
Abbott once again engaged in a psycho-sexual power play with a sex worker in
the confines of a hotel room (one whose lurid colour scheme is so identical
to Piercing you might wonder if both movies were shot in
Abbott's own home). This time he's playing Hal, a rich kid who has just
inherited his father's hotel chain, valued at almost $200 million. Hal is
also a masochist who has enjoyed a professional relationship with Rebecca
(Margaret Qualley), a dominatrix who pays regular visits to his hotel
room. Ironically, while allowing himself to be punished by Rebecca, Hal is
also a control freak who literally scripts their encounters, getting
frustrated with Rebecca whenever she deviates from his pre-planned
scenarios.
After one such encounter, Hal gifts Rebecca a very expensive watch and
breaks the news that their arrangement must come to an end now that he's the
CEO of a major company. Rebecca doesn't react well to this revelation.
Claiming that she made him the man he is, Rebecca demands half of Hal's
first year salary, which he claims amounts to $4 million. Hal laughs off the
suggestion, but Rebecca doesn't appear to be joking, claiming that she has
been videotaping their meetings and will release the videos if he doesn't
agree to her arrangement.
This leads to a psychological battle of wits, along with what Preston
Sturges would call "a little bit of sex," as Hal attempts to get the upper
hand over a woman very skilled at ensuring she's always on top. As Hal
becomes increasingly frustrated with Rebecca's unwillingness to back down,
the threat of violence looms, but it's not always clear which of the two is
the one in danger. Taking a cue from Venus in Fur, Rebecca seems to know
more about running a hotel chain than Hal, even demanding that he give her a
seat on the company board.
Abbott and Qualley are both excellent here. The former has a distinct
ability to play men who seem simultaneously pathetic and threatening, and
he's quite chilling whenever Hal gains the upper hand and threatens Rebecca
with using his power to extinguish her. Qualley seems determined to distance
herself as much as possible from the image of her mother, Andie McDowell, by
taking on roles that see her play the sort of "bad girls" nobody would
associate with her mom. As Rebecca she's very good at portraying a woman who
thinks she's in control, but Qualley's expressive eyes betray Rebecca's
vulnerability, reminding us that she's taking a real risk in winding up a
powerful man in this way.
The trouble with Sanctuary is that having opened with a
demonstration of how Hal and Rebecca's relationship is scripted, we're left
to assume that everything we see between the two is similarly
pre-fabricated. As such, it's difficult to become invested in the drama when
we're waiting for the artifice to be revealed. It doesn't help that neither
character is in any way worthy of our empathy; they're equally sociopathic
in their own ways. The film is so reliant on dialogue in its storytelling
that the audience is always being lead along by its characters, and we're
put in the position of simply having to accept what we're told. Wigon never
gives us any visual clues as to the truth of what exactly is playing out
here. The result is like watching two very accomplished actors play out an
acting exercise, and Abbott and Qualley seem to be having a lot of fun that
never translates to the audience. Ultimately this tedious drama is for
masochists only.
