Passion

Film Review by Jamie Dunn | 07 Aug 2013
Film title: Passion
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace, Karoline Herfurth, Paul Anderson
Release date: 12 Aug
Certificate: 15

The last De Palma film to not receive a theatrical outing in the UK was 2002’s feverish noir Femme Fatale. With Passion making its debut on the small screen, have cinemagoers been denied another masterpiece by shortsighted distributors? In a word, no. But there are pleasures to be had in this corporate satire-cum-sapphic thriller.

Chief of these is Rachel McAdams, who plays an icy ad executive who begins a war of attrition with her unassuming underling (Rapace). Their cat and mouse battle over an “edgy” viral marketing campaign (which is so unedgy as to suggest De Palma has never used the internet before) makes for an airless first half.

When Rapace’s fragile character eventually cracks under pressure, however, so too does the film, allowing the self-styled master of the macabre to pull out every baroque set-piece in his repertoire, including a jaw-dropping use of split screen. So this is half a good De Palma film, which means it’s still superior to most movies. 

Released on DVD 12 Aug by Metrodome