Rosemary's Baby, with its atmospheric, claustrophobic, and deliberate vision of a woman in crisis, either a victim of her own increasing paranoia or a sinister outside force, blends with the avaricious 21st-century global pharmaceutical industry in this haunting, hypnotic, surprising, and unusual suspense film by the great and prolific Steven Soderbergh, an icon of American independent and studio film who claims this is his final theatrical release before a long and self-imposed exile from cinema. Still able to produce such valuable experiments and stone cold masterpieces, one cannot help but hope and pray this promised retirement is short-lived. Starting as a vivid chronicle of the heroine's descent into disorienting melancholia during a period of domestic tension (her husband has just returned home after serving time for insider trading), the film then transforms into a complex and satisfying detective drama with political, psychological, sexual, and social dimensions. A great film can (perhaps should) enlighten and inspire serious thought while also teasing and pleasing on a more conventional level, and this film achieves such a perfect combination. It is, of course, a sterling technical achievement. Filming yet again with his beloved Red EPIC, the director's characteristic elegant, yet cold vision of the modern world (as experienced in, among other films, The Girlfriend Experience and Contagion) remains intact: it is a world of beautiful lines and clean surfaces, but also harsh lighting and dense shadow. Certain scenes reach an uncomfortable (and therefore perfect) level of suspense, often complemented by composer Thomas Newman's intriguing score, which is as a rule gentle, at times even romantic, but also laced with anxious malevolence. And the cast is also strong. This is an important element in a film so focused on deceit, distrust, and the art of performance. Jude Law in particular rises to the challenge of portraying a complicated protagonist who is equal parts cruel, entitled, foolish, loving, and noble. In the capable and charming hands of one of the best actors and movie stars of his generation, the character's shifting beliefs, motives, and courses of action never fail to convince or fascinate.

A

Much, much better than I expected. Did not fully anticipate that complete (and awesome) 180 in the entire second act of the film.

Wasn't a huge fan.

Well, if you're going to have an early retirement, you may as well go out with a beast of a film.

I've always found Soderbergh somewhat underwhelming, but this is simply a spectacular film. The camera angles and lighting are ideal for the Hitchcockian-style thriller at hand here, and Jude Law gives his best performance in years.

I wouldn't be surprised if this remains my top film of 2013 at the end of the year. Masterful stuff.

A

A really cool, well-done thriller which takes a lot of twists and turns I wasn't expecting. The marketing is kind of deceptive for this one - it isn't really that similar to Contagion at all and reminded me a lot more of a Hitchcock film. Rooney Mara and Jude Law were both fantastic, but the entire supporting cast shined. Catherine Zeta-Jones was about 100 times better here than she was in Broken City too. A-

A nicely detached, topsy-turvy thriller that would be a nice theatrical swan song for Steven Soderbergh if that ends up being the case. This is one of Jude Law's strongest performances in a while, Rooney Mara (who may possess the inability to smile) is captivating, Channing Tatum is fine in his brief screen time, and Catherine Zeta-Jones gives a nicely sly turn. B+

SIDE EFFECTS

I liked the opening and ending shots to the film. They just went together well. The story was pretty good here and kept me interested throughout. I thought Jude Law and Mara gave excellent performances.

Grade - A

I'm going to see this is a couple hours. So excited!

Some dude in my audience made roughly this exclamation when that was revealed. Not surprised.

I did that in my screening. Minus the shower of popcorn directed at me, I got some laughs out of it.

Was I the only very strongly reminded of Rosemary's Baby throughout? Including the first and last shots.

I think the closest comparison to this movie is actually Primal Fear, incidentally.

In a lot of ways, their ending twists are similar.

The plot resembles Primal Fear in a clear way, but the films honestly do not remind me of each other much otherwise. Side Effects is far colder and creepier.

I just saw it and it reminded me SO much of Wild Things. I'm not crazy.

Yeah, this is great. Any film that references Rosemary's Baby and Sisters is solid in my books.

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“Side Effects”, Steven Soderbergh’s thriller, is a psychological game of truth and illusions. The audience sees the plot through the same eyes Jude Law’s character Dr. Jonathan Banks does. Rooney Mara’s character Emily Taylor and her scenes of depression starting the film makes her a sympathetic “wounded bird”. So much that when she commits her crime, I didn’t have any immediate suspicions about whether she was truthful. Emily’s alluring fragileness fooled me as much as she did Banks.

The title of the film “Side Effects” fits the film’s plot in that Emily to Banks is a toxicant of a patient, but who carries a nasty bite like a drug’s side effects that carries over to and takes over his mental sanity and life. An interesting irony in “Side Effects” is that while Emily may not be depressed, she’s still very sick. She has a nihilistic sickness that doctors and pills could not cure. Perhaps this is why as some have noticed, Emily sees a hallucinatory image of her split face at a party where it’s later revealed she isn’t taking drugs. Unlikely to be an accident, Soderbergh likely meant to represent her real mental sickness and lack of self, if only for a moment.

The film has an aura of “poisonous fog” in its lighting and cinematography that fits a film about sickness and internal emptiness. Mara is excellent and Catherine Zeta-Jones and Channing Tatum are convincing, but the film really belongs to Jude Law playing the increasingly angered and obsessed wronged man to perfection. It is his best role in years and proves what a great leading man he can be.

Soderbergh’s pacing and plotting is excellent as the story unravels and hurdles towards its conclusion excitingly. The film’s greatest strength is entertainment, like a page turning paperback novel.

Side Effects is a very enjoyable thriller, though it excels more as well executed familarity and fun than a fully unique entry in the genre.

7.5/10

Loved it.

Best movie Soderbergh has ever made.


Hopefully it is not forgotten by the time of the next WOKJ Movie Awards.

Finally saw this last week.

Yeah it's definitely one of Soderbergh's best. A purely great thriller with Jude Law giving zero fucks.

I also enjoyed the hell out of it. It's a more-than-sufficiently twisty thriller that had me invested and guessing throughout. If this is indeed Steven Soderbergh's final big screen movie, he's leaving on a very high note.

A-

This is very very good. Loved everything about it - from the way it handled mental illness and the big bad pharma companies to the twisty thriller it later becomes. The cast are top notch and Law is at his best.

My favourite Soderbergh film since The Limey.

Grade : A

A question to those who have seen it:

I think the movie could make more sense if the characters did not engage in revealing about each of their own intent in an unnecessary and illogical manner in the last 20 min or so. And the "happy" ending feels forced and done for the sake of doing it. I liked the bits and pieces about pharmaceutical consulting which give more context to the story and Jude Law's character. Jude Law is convincing as a practicing professional. Mara is pretty good too although her character can be more fleshed out.

B-/B

I saw the movie a second time. I found it very hard to like. So many things not making sense.