“It can’t hurt you if you don’t believe.”
Have you ever been told a story by someone and impatiently waited for them to get to the point? Or, wondered what the context was to make it worth your time and worth caring about? We all have, even to the point that we avoid people who ramble on and on. It’s not that what they have to say isn’t interesting, but how they tell the story is confusing or boring. The Skeleton Key can be viewed as such a story.
It’s a shame because once you get to the end of this movie, you understand what was explained previously (early on in the film) as very relevant, but the delivery is off. In any thriller, you want breadcrumbs, even false leads, but you want something to engage the audience and build up suspense. One could be forgiven for thinking the director constructed a poor story frame because of ineptitude. However, I posit it was done as a method for the audience to feel what the main character, Caroline (Hudson), felt. To be in the mindset of the protagonist.
Caroline is a hospice caregiver working toward nursing school who leaves a facility to work as a live-in aid for a woman’s dying husband. Caroline cares so much that people don’t die alone; she ignores the warnings. Several other people have left the job posting, which pays $1,000 a week. It’s remote, the wife is deflective and rude, and the husband doesn’t actually seem like he’s dying. Mix all that in with some psychological swamp magic, and you have the setup for Skeleton Key.
Part of getting into the mindset of the characters of this story for the director was filming on location in Louisiana. The atmosphere of the area, the house, would be a supporting character in a way for the cast to work off of. In a psychological thriller, I can see how that would help an actor’s performance.
This role is a nice departure from the romantic comedies that Kate Hudson usually did when this film was made. It allowed her to flex her acting chops in a different manner, and it worked for her. Working alongside Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, and Peter Sarsgaard must have helped because they are all, respectively, amazing actors. John Hurt has only one line in the entire film; the rest is facial expressions and body language. He was an exceptional actor.
If you think of The Skeleton Key as a movie you turn your brain off for, ignoring logic for the duration of the film, it’s not a terrible way to spend almost two hours. It creates tension and suspense more than it scares. Considering the onslaught of horror/gore/thriller movies out there as a dime a dozen now and the mislabeling of most of them, it can be hard to find a film that fits what you are looking for as a viewer. I don’t like gore or over-the-top spectacle. What I appreciate is the buildup, suspense, and thrills with a twist. Something reminiscent of John Carpenter’s original Halloween or Alfred Hitchcock than Rob Zombie. To each their own.
If you’re looking for a change of pace, something new to watch, or a new addition to a Halloween night movie line-up, you can’t go wrong with The Skeleton Key. It’s well written, if not purposefully ambiguous in the beginning, well acted, and has a good ending. If you go into seeing this knowing nothing about it, the more surprised you’ll be, which is how it should be: spoiler-free. So go ahead and add The Skeleton Key to your watchlist.
- A Pen Lady
Director: Iain Softley Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 1h 44m Studio: Universal Studios Screenwriter: Ehren Kruger Cast: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard, John Hurt, Joy Bryant
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