In his final act of sadism, Charlie uses his belt in an attempt to strangle India’s mother. Uncle Charlie is smart, and tricky, but he underestimates his niece. By subverting everyone’s expectations, she becomes the woman she wants to be. But in Stoker, India builds herself from the scraps of her family. ![]() In Midsommar, it’s the cult’s intervention that sets Florence Pugh on her path. Samara Weaving is able to win the day in Ready or Not because of a malevolent entity. Anya Taylor-Joy ascends because of an offer from the Devil. India possesses an agency that often seems secondary in “good for her” cinema. Her true self will not be defined by the adults in her life. But India is smart, and tricky, and this is not her final form. Uncle Charlie and his poisonous, vile influence is the victor. Her mother, whom she’d previously treated as an annoyance, is fully rejected. India slips into the brutality as if she were born for it. While her father taught awareness and restraint, Charlie is more interested in unleashing what bubbles beneath her surface. Charlie’s sudden appearance-on India’s 18th birthday-positions him as a new kind of patriarch. Having seen the depths of his brother’s depravity, Richard simply wanted different for his daughter. Her father’s attention-the hunting trips Evelyn frequently mentions-are an attempt to redirect her savage inclinations. India is an entity, precise and dangerous, just like her good old Uncle Charlie.Īs Stoker unravels, it becomes clear that India has always been a little different. The revelation is electric, instantly redefining India’s role in the story. India is actually masturbating to the memory of her assailant's snapped neck. We assume she’s feeling anguish or regret, but that’s not the case. She cries out, face screwed up in a sour grimace. After the incident, India showers, streaks of dirt swirling down the drain. As the man straddles India’s prone body, Charlie breaks his neck with a belt. While she fights him off, we see Charlie approach. In one of the film’s most surprising and explosive scenes, a young man attempts to rape India. She sees herself in Charlie’s predatory ways, and she tries it on for size. And this fascinates India, it drives her toward her own awakening, a puberty of sorts. He murders with ease and abandon, his blood lust almost preternatural. And although her initial caution and suspicion are what you’d expect from a heartbroken 18-year-old, India’s reaction to Charlie’s crimes are far from normal. But India is built different, and in Stoker, her Uncle Charlie is a perfect stranger. ![]() But in Shadow of a Doubt, young Charlie approaches the sudden distrust of her once-beloved uncle far more traditionally than India: she digs for clues and stays vigilant. The character of Uncle Charlie, a constant in both films, isn’t trustworthy in either. Miller himself has cited the film as an inspiration for Stoker. Stoker is a lush, familial story that shares much in common with Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt. But, like India, Uncle Charlie isn’t exactly who he seems. He appears to be the perfect man, ready and willing to usher his bereaved extended family through their harrowing loss. India is at once wary and fascinated, intent on figuring out just who Uncle Charlie is. This hole in the family is filled by Richard’s mysterious, and estranged, brother Charles (Matthew Goode). As the narrative unfolds, we see just how close India and her father Richard (Dermot Mulroney) were. The screenplay, written by Wentworth Miller, follows India (Mia Wasikowska) and her mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman) as they navigate the sudden death of the family’s patriarch. But even 10 years after its release, Park Chan-wook’s English-language debut stands out from the pack. Unfortunately, many of the subgenere’s more recent entries get top billing, leaving films like 2013’s Stoker woefully unrepresented. And as viewers, we’re thrilled to watch them do it. The ladies of the “good for her cinematic universe” have no choice but to destroy all that’s held them back. From Lupita Nyong'o in Us, to Florence Pugh in Midsommar, there is a desire to see women not just succeed, but transform. In recent years the phenomenon of “good for her” cinema has exploded.
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