UNA
SPEC D: Benedict Andrews. UK. 94 min. Sep 14, 9:30 pm, Princess of Wales Sep 15, 3 pm, Princess of Wales Sep 16, 3 pm, TIFF Ryerson. Rating: NNN
There’s a great performance here by Rooney Mara as a 20-something woman who confronts Ray (Ben Mendelsohn), who sexually abused her when she was 13. She’s a mess, harbouring a welter of emotions about him: confusion and anger on the one hand, yet still in love with him, as she was as a child. Mara shifts effortlessly through all these states of mind.
Director Andrews develops uncomfortable tensions but he and scriptwriter David Harrower, on whose play (Blackbird) the film is based, fail to keep this near two-hander from feeling stagey. Adding a few characters, including Ray’s colleague (Riz Ahmed), who gets involved with Una in ways that make no sense, doesn’t help, and the whole thing has a claustrophobic feel – not in a good way.
Still, Rooney’s terrific.
