'Sanctuary' review: Sex and power in scorching psychological thriller
Christopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley go for it in tight drama.
A wealthy hotel heir and his dominatrix are locked in a battle of wits and wills in "Sanctuary," a smart, twisty psycho-sexual thriller that has more than a few surprises up its sleeve.
Adventurous indie bad boy Christopher Abbott is Hal and "Maid's" Margaret Qualley is a flamethrower as Rebecca, and when we first meet the pair — they're the only two on screen the whole movie — she is interviewing him about his pending takeover of his father's hotel chain. Turns out their interaction is just a script, typed up word-for-word by him, and it's a part of their role-playing routine, in which reality collapses in on itself and the rug is pulled out from underneath the audience's feet.
OK, so it's all a game. Or is it? Hal figures it's time to grow up and move on — he offers Rebecca a $32,000 watch for her troubles — but Rebecca isn't willing to let him off that easy. She wants more.
The script by Micah Bloomberg makes smart use of the audience's expectations and plays with them throughout, while Zachary Wigon directs this slithery two-hander with style, making what could feel like a stage production a playful exercise in intimacy, trust and betrayal.
Abbott and Qualley are a scintillating pair, each playing multiple layers of their characters concurrently, and just when you've got them figured out, they level up. They constantly keep each other on their toes.
"Sanctuary" is sexy, gripping, and fiercely comic, sometimes all at once. It's a study in the economics of sex and power, brought to life by its dynamite leads. If indeed it's all a game, it's the audience that emerges victorious.
Twitter: @grahamorama
'Sanctuary'
GRADE: B+
Rated R: for sexual content and language
Running time: 96 minutes
In theaters