Park Chan-Wook directs Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode and Nicole Kidman in this sultry and dark coming of age fairy tale.

All the visual razzmatazz of Chan- Wook’s Vengeance Trilogy is imported over to this seductive mixture of Hitchockian perversion and Wes Anderson-esque whimsy. It takes a real master to swirl those flavour into such a delicious dish. Another stand out performance by Wasikowska helps, who here goes on a journey from trapped child plucked from a Tennessee Williams play through to a female empowered Dexter cut loose. Her intentions are so hidden and guarded throughout the process that a moment where she takes a post-murder shower and the camera pans down her body has to be the most exciting cinematic reveal since… well… when we find Mother Bates in the fruit cellar. A saucy good girl gone bad movie elevated by its director’s exquisite taste in mise-en-scene, acting and baroque editing.

9