Sanctuary - Movie Review

Critics Score - 8 of 10

General Audience Score - 8 of 10

There’s nothing quite like a good psychological thriller, when two parties of fairly equal intellectual capacity are locked into a mental game of chess, trying to stay three, four or five moves ahead of each other. This usually works well in the good guy/bad guy dynamic, like Batman vs. The Joker or Brad Pitt’s cop vs. Kevin Spacey’s killer in Se7en, the adversary relationship is prime territory for some fantastic intrigue. But change the dynamics to a couple or sexual partners squaring off in a power struggle, throw in a heavy dose of sexual tension between the two and lock them in a hotel room and you get the new film from Neon, Sanctuary. Like Malcolm & Marie from Netflix a couple years back, Sanctuary is a complete two hander of a film and is proof that the Covid era films with minuscule casts and confined set locations/nominal production costs can still produce brilliant pieces of cinema. The exceptional performances by the two lead characters, Christopher Abbott and Margaret Qualley and their delightful onscreen chemistry  makes this film one of the most fun and exciting of it’s kind that I’ve seen in the last few years. Movie lovers of all shapes and sizes will find, not just an entertaining, but an exceptional piece of cinema waiting for them when they take refuge in this Sanctuary.

SYNOPSIS - We kick off this charade in a hotel room, the same one that the entirety of our runtime stays inside with very few exceptions, but before we actually see anything, we hear the ticking of a clock. The clock turns out to be a watch, a very expensive one in fact as we later learn and the film opens with a shot of someone holding a watch in their lap as the seconds tick slowly past. The person is Hal (Christopher Abbott), we see his tan slacks and black loafers as he holds said watch, the camera slowly pans up across the red hotel room floor to the slightly visible window, mostly obscured by the red paisley curtains that match the carpet. As the camera pans back down and keeps going, we eventually see Hal upside down, but his staring blankly is interrupted by the phone ringing, it’s room service and he places an order, but the scene switches to a blonde haired woman with a bob cut hairstyle standing outside his room. She knocks. Within a few moments he has let Rebecca (Margaret Qualley) in, told her to help herself to whatever and finishes up his phone call with room service, placing a fairly large order of food to be brought up. Let the mind games begin.

They take a seat across from each other at a table and she begins some sort of an interviewing process, he’s applied to become CEO of a Porterfield Hotel company and she’s going over all manner of in depth questions. She inquires about any and all kinds of intimate details, from alcohol and or substance abuse to STD’s and when he lost his virginity. Within a few minutes of speaking, however, Hal becomes flustered at some of her statements and says, “This . . it’s not in the script.” At which point we’re made privy to the fact that the words we’re hearing are scripted, Rebecca produces some paperwork from a briefcase and we see a shot of paper with the words they’ve been speaking printed on it. This scenario is a rehearsal or some sort of fake situation that these two are playing out, our first clue that not all is as it seems between these two. It soon becomes apparent that these two have known each other for quite some time, but we as the audience are left guessing as to when the rehearsal stops and their off script interactions begin. But within another couple minutes, her dominating presence and commanding speech has him on his hands and knees wiping behind the toilet in the bathroom while she pulls up a chair just outside the door and sits like a king on a throne to watch. Clue number two that this is no ordinary relationship. As things quickly turn sexual, this game of physical love devolves into a power struggle with the most unlikely outcome imaginable, and to say it was truly glorious would be an understatement.

Upon closer examination of this film, it’s apparent the exceptional screenplay that these two actors are given to work with is top notch. The layered and initial meta quality it embraces through the first act is a testament to how intricate and well constructed it is as the plot slowly reveals itself and these two impressive performers are allowed to sink their teeth into this material. There couldn’t have been a much better pairing of Abbott and Qualley as rivals pitted against each other with unbelievable sexual chemistry and they both show some dynamite acting chops through several sequences. Between this and the other film featuring a matchup of actors depicting a battle of sexual gamesmanship, Fair Play, coming to Netflix later this year, I preferred Sanctuary for both the acting and the movie as a whole. The kinetic camera movements work double time to keeps things moving, despite the fact that we’re basically following these two as they move around the handful of rooms in this luxury hotel suite/penthouse. Alas, even with the short hour and a half runtime, I still felt some lag and pacing issues as the film moves out of the first and into the second act, unfortunately that comes with the territory of such a close quartered project. The editing could’ve possibly been used to either trim this section down just a hair or find another way to keep the back and forth interactions of these two from getting stagnant. That being said, please don’t let that deter you, Sanctuary was not only a rock solid 8 of 10, but teetering on a 9 for me in terms of excellence, quality and sheer entertainment value.

SUMMARY - This film is full of twists and turns as it rides along it’s roller coaster of a screenplay, providing a mesmerizing experience that cinephiles and general audiences alike can enjoy, although make sure the kids are in bed first. The film and it’s fantastic finale are among the greats of the year as this Sanctuary is one I know I’ll be visiting time and time again.