Safe

Ever wonder what’s in that hamburger your eating? How about that glass of water? The deodorant your using? Shampoo? Soap? Do you smell fumes? Am I making you nervous? Well, consider it a peak inside the head of Carol White, timid suburban housewife and protagonist of Writer/Director Todd Haynes’ absorbingly weird film Safe. Classified as drama, I’d put this movie in the horror category. It’s damn creepy.

Carol lives a normal life. She’s married to Greg (Xander Berkeley), has a stepson Rory, and resides in a beautiful southern California home. Her daily routine consists of running errands and visiting with friends. The most exciting thing she deals with is a wrong colored couch delivered to her house. Carol seems out of place; something is missing in her world.

Safe1

Carol’s monotony splits apart when she starts feeling ill. Headaches, nosebleeds, and seizures take hold of her frail body. Her perplexed doctor tells her she’s physically healthy. A psychiatrist offers no explanation. She sees an allergist who diagnoses her as being “environmentally ill.” Her immune system is being ravaged by society’s hidden toxins. A television commercial leads her to Wrenwood, a New Mexico retreat run by a new age Guru specializing in treating people with Carol’s condition.

Julianne Moore plays Carol with equal parts pathos and skepticism. Is she really ill, or does her mundane, lonely life make her sick? Todd Haynes never provides an answer. He lays out evidence and leaves it for us to decide. There’s little doubt that toxins exist, but can they make a person allergic to the surrounding environment? Are we contributing to the destruction of our own immune systems? I don’t know, but watching this film will make you feel anything but safe.

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