Martin (Channing Tatum) helps his wife Emily (Rooney Mara) through her readjustment period in "Side Effects". Photo by Peter Andrews.
Steven Soderbergh has long since proven himself to be one of today’s most competent directors, especially with recent releases such as Haywire (read my review here) and Magic Mike (read my review here) where he turned seemingly banal concepts into engaging films. But with Side Effects, Soderbergh has really outdone himself by creating a captivating mystery that unravels like the details of a bad dream or repressed memory.
Rooney Mara plays Emily, a cute young woman whose simplistic world is upended when she is swept off her feet by Martin (Channing Tatum) only to be upended yet again when Martin is sent to prison for insider trading scams. Having all of her dreams suddenly come true only to just as suddenly be destroyed has a troubling effect on Emily, especially upon Martin’s release and return home. As if readjusting wasn’t already hard enough for the couple, things get even more complicated when Emily’s anxiety causes her to do things like inexplicably drive full-speed into a concrete wall. The only explanation for Emily’s episodes seems to be an experimental drug she has been prescribed by Dr. Jonathan Banks (Jude Law) that results in Emily’s anxieties manifesting themselves during sleepwalking trances that she is unable to recollect. But when she awakens one day to find Martin stabbed to death in the living room and her fingerprints on the knife, Banks comes under fire by the media, his colleagues and Emily’s former therapist Dr. Victoria Siebert (Catherine Zeta-Jones) for prescribing such an unpredictable remedy to her psychological ailments.
Dr. Banks (Jude Law) consults with Dr. Siebert (Catherine Zeta-Jones) in "Side Effects". Photo by Peter Andrews.
As Banks’ life falls apart personally and professionally, his mental acumen remains intact and he begins to find inconsistencies in Emily’s story. But his suspicions come across as crazy conspiracy theory talk to his peers and family, leaving him to uncover the truth by using his own, sometimes unscrupulous, methods. As he continues to evaluate Emily’s mental state while she is institutionalized, Banks’ paranoia reaches Hitchcockian heights while Emily’s mental instability begins to resemble Edward Norton‘s portrayal of a similarly distraught (and deceptive) character in Primal Fear. But even as some of Banks’ suspicions prove to be true, new surprises emerge that lead the viewer down very unexpected psychological paths (especially concerning Zeta-Jones’ character, which is definitely a bit of a departure for her). And by the time all the details are revealed, it’s a hard pill to swallow for those who thought they might literally get away with murder.