Vera Farmiga plays an affluent woman whose life and marriage is unraveling. She and her Korean husband have been trying without success to get pregnant. Her suicidal husband has given up on the idea, but it's become an obsession with her, the one thing that will fix everything that's broken. She makes a proposition to a young Korean immigrant -- she will pay him $300 in cash every time they have sex, with an additional $30,000 in cash if she conceives.
I had my doubts before watching this film that the screenplay would be able to make this premise plausible, but it does. It sets things up in such a way that they play out honestly, without feeling overly manipulated by the hands of a screenwriter or director. It helps tremendously that Farmiga gives such a good performance -- you have to really understand her character if the movie is going to make any sense, and we do, thanks to Farmiga's commitment to the role.
Though ambiguous, the ending suggests a happy ending that DID feel implausible to me. But the rest of the movie is such a downer that I actually didn't mind it, because I just wanted something positive to happen to this poor woman.
Grade: B+
