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Movies & TV

18th Oct 2017

Make time for this smart, twisty, sexy psychological thriller when it’s on TV this weekend

If Hitchcock were alive today, this is the film he would have made.

Rory Cashin

Before you start reading this article, stop. Don’t.

We want you to skip the lot of it and go right to the bottom of the page where it tells you the name of the film, and when and where it is on.

We want you to do this because the less you know about the movie before you see it, the better.

Going in blind is the best possible way to enjoy Side Effects, because any description, trailer, review or opinion will potentially lead you down the path of one of the movie’s many twisty, turn-y narrative paths and they really are the kind of paths you shouldn’t be aware of beforehand.

We’re going to break this article up with the trailer (which, again, we don’t recommend you watch), so this is your last chance to scroll, scroll, scroll and only get the vital info at the bottom of the page…

Clip via Movieclips Trailers

Still reading? Okay, time for some details…

Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum play a loving couple, who are attempting to deal with Mara’s severe bouts of depression. She makes an appointment with a new therapist (played with smooth, sleazy charm by Jude Law) who prescribes her a new medication. Initially, it all seems to be going to really well, her depression has lifted immensely and has a new lust for life, with the only apparent side-effect (that’s the name of the movie!) being some sleep-walking.

Then, one morning, Mara wakes up to discover that she has killed someone in her sleep, and she places the blame squarely at Law’s door, saying it would never have happened had she not been on the medication he had prescribed.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Oceans 11, Traffic, Out Of Sight, Magic Mike), who is clearly channelling a post-modern Hitchcock vibe, like an up-to-date Vertigo or Shadow Of A Doubt. The plot twists and turns itself inside out the further down the rabbit-hole we go with Jude Law’s character as he tries to get a grip on his quickly unravelling life.

If you haven’t seen it before, then you owe to yourself to check it out this weekend.

If you have seen it before, then you already know how great it is, and it is definitely worth a re-watch as you spot how the plot twists had been so cleverly laid out.

Side Effects is on Film Four on Sunday 22 October at 10.45 pm.

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