“Sometimes adversity has unseen benefits,” says a character in “Open Window,” a solid drama about how a traumatic incident affects a once-joyous relationship.
The film stars Robin Tunney and Joel Edgerton as a couple on the verge of marriage. The early scenes buzz with a remarkable intimacy, as director Mia Goldman captures some moments that seem to be almost intrusive into the couple’s private life. Then, a terrible incident takes place. Without much trouble, a stranger enters Izzy’s (Tunny) photography studio and rapes her. Izzy quickly plunges into depression, with Peter (Edgerton) not far behind.
“Open Window” features sharp supporting performances, but Tunney and Edgerton are particularly good at portraying a once-happy couple that is severely tested. Both blame themselves for what happened to varying degrees; both tiptoe around the fact that they aren’t at all happy with each other, loathe as they may be to say it out loud.
Not every scene in the movie works, and I would have liked to have seen a few more moments of domestic idyll before the film plunged into turmoil. Still, the arch of the central relationship feels absolutely authentic.
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