Academy Award nominees Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal star in Foe, a haunting exploration of marriage and identity set in an uncertain world. Hen and Junior farm a secluded piece of land that has been in Junior’s family for generations, but their quiet life is thrown into turmoil when an uninvited stranger (Aaron Pierre) shows up at their door with a startling proposal. Based on best-selling author Iain Reid’s novel, directed by Garth Davis, and co-written by Davis and Reid, Foe’s mesmerizing imagery and persistent questions about the nature of humanity (and artificial humanity) bring the not-too-distant future to luminous life.
What We Thought:
Despite starring one of my favorite actresses of today, Saoirse Ronan, and up and coming star Paul Mescal, Foe was a huge disappointment for me. Two great actors in a science fiction story based in the near future should have been a home run, but like similar film The Creator, the concept is better than the result.
Foe is going to be a tough film to review because most of my issues are spoilers, but I’ll do my best to tip-toe around things. The story is about a married couple living on a farm. It’s about 50 years into the future and the planet is struggling. Their farm doesn’t get rain, it’s hard to grow crops and other farms around them have been destroyed. A stranger appears one night at their door and offers Mescal’s character a job working in space. He’d be gone for a year, but an AI being who looks like him will replace him at the farm so Ronan’s character isn’t on her own. Ok good concept even if I’m already tired of the world ending in 50 years stories ala The Creator.
He’s where talking about the movie gets difficult. By film’s end there is a huge twist. Unfortunately I figured it out about 10 minutes into the movie so any emotional impact you’re supposed to be hit with wasn’t there for me. The bulk of the movie is the couple coming to terms with what’s going to happen when’s he gone. Their marriage appeared on the rocks from the beginning of the movie and they try to fall back in love with each other before the year is up. Easy to follow, but ultimately worthless if you already figured out the big surprise.
That’s the problem with the film, any emotion you’re supposed to feel between these two attractive people isn’t there if you think you know how it’s going to end. They spend a lot of time fighting and being distant, but also a lot of time intimately and yes I mean intimately. The movie is more Marriage Story than it is sci-fi. There are very few scenes of science fiction because the movie is about this couple on this middle of nowhere farm.
Foe is slow and lacks any emotion if you know what to expect. If you watch it closely for any bit of detail you easily figure out where it’s going. I watch a ton of sci-fi so I knew what was happening or more specifically, what wasn’t happening with the characters. I’d be completely shocked if the majority of viewers don’t see the twist coming. Two great actors in a limited environment should have made for a solid film, but I’d never have a need to watch it again.
The Nerds Templar 