Peacock

Here is a psychological thriller that gets you pumped up early on and then quickly goes nowhere.  It starts off interesting enough.  We are introduced to a pretty woman walking around her dark home with curtains drawn, cautiously peeking out the window at her neighbors.  We begin to wonder if maybe this woman is some type of shut-in or agoraphobe.  Soon we discover that this is not actually a woman we are watching, but a man in disguise.  Cillian Murphy plays this character with a dual personality disorder.  He is really fantastic in the way he switches from the painfully awkward and at times apoplectic John Skillpa, to the delicate, sweet, and good-hearted Emma, his alter ego.  As the story unfolds we start to find out secrets about John's past and perhaps why he is the way he is.  However, it all leads to an unsatisfying ending where it is unclear how John's conflict is resolved (if at all) and I was left wondering if perhaps the production ran out of money towards the end of filming and had to have a rather abrupt ending to compensate.  I thought the story of this fascinating character deserved a better explanation and not just a big question mark at the end.


2 out of 5 stars