Australian
Screen

Clip description

The camera slowly crawls towards the front door, over the first-floor balcony and into the front bedroom to discover Steve (Gary Sweet) asleep in his bed, watched by his wife Alexandra (Helen Buday). She goes to the bathroom where she says 'Sorry, Steve’, then spits angrily at the mirror and tells herself not to be sorry. She re-enters the bedroom with their two children, who wish Steve happy birthday and give him presents.

Curator’s notes

At the end of the film’s opening credits, the creeping camera, unsettling ambient music and heightened sound design (including the peculiarly loud sound of an unseen garden hose) create a highly effective sense of unease that’s reminiscent of David Lynch films such as Blue Velvet (1986) and Lost Highway (1997). (The significance of the water will become clear later in the story).

Alexandra’s actions in front of the mirror alerts us to the fact that she has planned something unpleasant for Steve. Writer-director Rolf de Heer creates suspense and mystery by establishing this early in the film. Not until the beginning of the script’s second act (after Steve returns from work) will he start to reveal the nature of her 'project’.

Alexandra’s 'sorry, not sorry’ routine is the first of a pattern of reversals that occur throughout the film. These include two instances of Steve being unhappy about being called into the boardroom (and then receiving pleasant surprises); and a major revelation from Alexandra on videotape that she later reveals to be untrue.