Anne Hathaway Focuses on Creepy Weird Thriller

Adapting a critically acclaimed and Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel for the big screen is always fraught with enormous challenges.

In some cases this has been largely successful – consider the story of Matthew Lopez. Red, white and royal blue, which became the weird rom-com of the summer (even if it had to cut an entire main character from the book to squeeze in a storyline). AND We are all strangerswith Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott, based on the 1987 novel. Strangerswhich has received rave reviews so far.

And there are stories that, frankly, should have remained on their pages: Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsbyand dare we say it, Killing Eve (season four, that’s on you).

When EileenWilliam Oldroyd’s 2015 film version of Ottessa Moshfegh’s quietly strange novel of the same name is a success – almost.

Leave no trace star Thomasin McKenzie plays title character Eileen Dunlop, a “simple” 23-year-old secretary working at a juvenile detention facility in 1960s Massachusetts.

On the outside, she lives a life as simple and dull as her appearance: she takes care of her drunkard father, fantasizes about the hot male security guard she works with, and spends her evenings alone.

Like the book, the film follows Eileen’s last week in her small hometown after a charming new psychiatrist arrives at work.

Rebecca St. John performed The Devil Wears Prada Icon Anne Hathaway is traditionally beautiful, inquisitive and glamorous, and she ignites Eileen’s lonely world with the promise of friendship and excitement.

Eileen quickly becomes captivated by Rebecca’s attentions, but the newcomer’s obsession lies elsewhere. Rebecca is determined to get justice for one of the boys at the detention center, Lee Polk, by any means necessary.

Although Oldroyd follows the overarching plot envisioned by Moshfegh, there is one small problem. Moshfegh’s Eileen Dunlop is viscerally intriguingly strange and sometimes grotesque, an element that makes the story so enticing. She is fascinated by her own stool, loves not to be washed, and is often preoccupied with sexual or soft fantasies, although these are played out almost entirely in her head.

Oldroyd went to great lengths to convey some of this inner monologue on screen. In the first few minutes of the film, Eileen (Mackenzie) stuffs her underwear with snow to cool her own horn, and in several scenes she imagines herself brutally killing her belligerent father.

Yet the fascinating inner workings of Eileen’s mind aren’t quite, shall we say, gross enough. In Oldroyd’s version, she is more of a moody teenager than a quirky recluse (although Moshfegh has previously said she considers the character “totally normal”).

Where the director failed to translate Eileen’s thoughts onto the screen, he tried to compensate in other ways, with varying degrees of success. The film maintains its cool thanks to the ominous orchestral score, although at times it feels like it is over-reliant.

Mackenzie impresses, doing a good job with what she’s given, while Hathaway is as convincing as ever as the charming Rebecca, who surprisingly becomes the film’s scene-stealing heroine, despite the title.

Together, their chemistry is compelling, although it is Mrs. Polk, the boy’s mother at the detention center, played by Tony Award nominee Marin Ireland, who delivers perhaps the film’s best performance in its climax.

Eileen enjoyable, fast-paced (it’s intended for those of the “movies shouldn’t be longer than an hour and a half” mantra) and perhaps more overtly weird than the novel, as Eileen’s infatuation with Rebecca is clearly evident.

It’s also often funny, with Eileen’s strange tendencies getting laughs whenever they air. If the character were allowed to succumb even further to these unconventional impulses, Eileen it would be truly memorable.

Eileen hits theaters December 1st.