Magpie

Thank you Daisy for the original idea.

As a lonely housewife myself who has been cheated on and given up my own life for my husband, I really related to this movie. Daisy managed to capture anxiety, depression, PTSD and spite all in one character. I've been her and I know how awful it is and how manic you feel.

You're never totally sure if you should pity Annette or root for or be disgusted by her, until the end. At first it's not entirely obvious that the story is even about her. The portrayal of her husband is properly fleshed out and amazingly nuanced considering what sort of characters men are given these days. They are often too simplistic and vapid. This movie did a pretty good job of writing believable people while entertaining and surprising me. I almost felt as though whoever wrote the ending took a piece of my life and put it into a movie. We're not crazy, we're just reviving ourselves.

More movies like this, please.

The first half of the film is more of a character study, about a profoundly unhappy and lonely housewife, Anette, who soon finds out her husband, Ben, may be having an affair with a famous actress, Alicia. The second half of the film is more of a thriller where we see the tempo begin to pick up and the wheels begin turning in Anette's head.

The film is a true slow burn: at first chilly and frigid, then warm and bubbling, then explosive in its final act. It's gripping, engrossing, and tense throughout. It's anchored by a fantastic performance by Daisy Ridley. She's a true revelation. Her quiet moments of festering anger are wrenching. There's a symbolic scene where we see her crack a mirror after pushing into it for a few moments that symbolizes their shattering marriage. Shazad Latif is also good here.

The film does have some mediocre aspects. The trailer is quite misleading. It can drag and get a tad tedious at times. The ending may be cathartic and rewarding for some viewers, while mediocre for other viewers. Hiba Ahmed as Matilda, the daughter, is just okay, though child performances in film are often not very good. She felt more like a prop than a character. And Matilda Lutz, while really beautiful and charming and convincing as a movie star in the context of the film, was just alright. Perhaps it's because Lutz is Italian that many of her lines sounded odd or stilted.

If you like thrillers with strong acting, especially ones involving female rage, eroticism, and infidelity, this will be up your alley.

I just finished watching this and it kept my interest. You sort of new there was a build up in this movie but the writers kept it hidden pretty good. Since you were always waiting for the climax this thriller did its job pretty good. It does play to certain stereotypes of husbands and wife's. It is a bit unusual to see a movie breaking out of the liberal movement of 2024.

This is a great couples movie and it does not disappoint. Definitely a conversation starter after watching this. Which the junkyard of movies coming out of Hollywood this one is brave enough to go out into left field. Put this movie near the top of your list.

Annette (Ridley) left her career and life in the city to live in the English countryside with her husband Ben, and focus on being a mother to their daughter Tilly, and their infant son.

Ben is an author, and spends much of his time doing "research" for his books. He even left home to go on a research trip just after he & Annette's son was born. When he is home, he is often dismissive of or ignores Annette, and gaslights her often, that is until he needs her for something.

Matilda (their adorable little daughter) auditions for and lands a role in a movie, where she will be playing the daughter of an famous actress who has run into some slight controversy as of late. On the first day of filming, Ben takes Matilda to the set, and immediately becomes enamored by this leading lady, named Alicia. They strike up a quick friendship and begin exchanging texts.

At home with their son, Annette struggles with her feelings of being alone & isolated, and increasingly becomes paranoid that her husband is stepping out on her.

Now,, I'm not going to spoil anything here. I am going to say that I did not expect to enjoy this movie so much, but I really did. It's not exciting, nor is it fast-paced. It's a very slow burn, to the point that some might find it boring. However, I found it to be quite a captivating slow burn psychological thriller. It has a very minimal cast (barely a dozen or more), the 4 main characters being Annette, Ben, Alicia, and Tilly. The entire cast is great in their roles, however, I agree with what the trailer said. Ridley is very well at her finest (so far) in this.

As I said, this may not be everyone's cup of tea. However, I'd give it a 6.5 rating at the very least.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about 'Magpie'. On the one hand, it's a very mundane film with not a lot of "film-worthy" content throughout the runtime. On the other hand, once you've seen the complete picture, you can be a lot more forgiving and understand why it was done the way it was done.

I really liked the ending to this movie. Does it make complete logical sense? I don't think so. But it's fun and it certainly makes you look at things in a different light, as any good thriller ending should.

Watching an unhappy marriage for 90 minutes can be quite taxing though. I understand this is actually quite a realistic vision of 99% of marriages on earth. Still, keep that behind closed doors please people.

The ending boosts this one up a point for me, but the actual bulk of the film still could've used a lot of work to make it better. 6/10.

Note: How unbelievably terrible did the film within a film being shot look? My goodness, that is a generous 3/10 in waiting.