Anne Hathaway and Thomasin McKenzie Photo: neon‘Eileen” is about Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie), a young clerical worker at a juvenile penitentiary in 1960s Massachusetts.
But the film, like the character, is besotted with someone else: Dr. Rebecca St. John, the new prison psychologist, fresh from Harvard and, as played by Anne Hathaway , a suave and sultry modern woman.
“Some people, they’re the real people, like in a movie,” Eileen’s father says, no doubt summoning in his daughter’s mind a vision of Rebecca.
“And other people, they’re just there.” We hardly need the next line to know who he’s talking about: “That’s you, Eileen.”Yet the narrative charts her transition, sparked by an act of violence, from a spectator of life to one of its decisive participants.
The conclusion, grim and swift, makes the meaning of what preceded it wither slightly in the rear view, but there are some cinematic seductions along the way.
Persons:
Anne Hathaway, Thomasin McKenzie, Eileen ”, Eileen, Rebecca St, John, ”, Rebecca, “, Ottessa Moshfegh, Luke Goebel
Organizations:
Harvard
Locations:
Massachusetts, they’re