Claudio Carvalho
In Australia, the executive Kate (Linda Cropper) sees a young woman undressing her stolen dress in the swimming pool of a club, and regardless of the contrary opinion of her mate Phil (Jeff Truman), she decides to steal it back. Later her teenager son Matt (Wade Osborne) is approached by the smalltime thief Rachel (Anna Lise Phillips), the woman who stole the dress, and after spending some leisure time with her, they go to his middle class house. Sooner, Rachel's friend Nick (Scott Major) joins them, and Nick ties Matt to his mother's bed while Rachel masturbates him and cleans him with his mother's dress. The abused boy has a trauma, and his mother seeks revenge against Rachel, who returns with her friends, in escalating forms of retaliation until a tragic conclusion.The beginning of "Envy" is promising and quite original, notwithstanding being confused. I saw the first two or three chapters of the DVD twice to understand the intriguing situation. Unfortunately, after the abduction of Rachel by Kate in the mall, it seems that the director became lost in the development of the story. It does not make any sense and is completely absurd for me that an intelligent executive, even affected by an emotional problem, decides to send a sociopath back to her home to give the sexual initiation to her traumatized son. The conclusion, with the death of Matt, is appropriate and shows that violence may generate increased payback, and the price of her dress in the end was the life of her beloved son. The actress Anna Lise Phillips has a great performance and makes the movie worth.My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Inveja Fatal" ("Fatal Envy")
Jeremy
I want 2 hours of my life back. This movie, though well acted, descends into totally illogical plot lines, as if the family portrayed were in withdrawal from crack cocaine. One asks, as in the other comment, why the police were not called. But totally unbelievable is how a mother knocks into unconsciousness a teenage girl in a shopping mall complex and suddenly has her waking in an office tied to a door - didn't anyone notice mum dragging the body through the mall? I think this film is the result of the ascendancy of intellectual conceptualists hijacking top positions in Australia's creative colleges (in the late 1970's till today), at the expense of mortar and brick craftmaking. Creativity is not some engagement where a concept, however illogical, stands on it's own merit. The Director claims the movie got rave reviews all over Oz and the world. Either she exaggerates, or film critics are brain dead. The writer (who played the father in the film) claims the story comes from a previous writer and it seems they had a difference of opinion and parted ways before production began. What a shame - I'm sure the original script could not have been worse than the revised one. Though well acted, film is badly wrought, directed and edited, and the DVD should become a worthy beer coaster in a caravan in Woop Woop.
matthew
Coming in at 83 minutes I can recommend this a decent investment in time. It is a standard thriller with some nods towards sexual, family and class politics and the story though never rising to great levels nevertheless holds the interest as two women become involved in an increasingly bitter struggle following the theft of one's dress from a clothesline by the other. Coming from a middle class Australian background it is interesting to see middle class Australia as the canvas this story is told on. Though not a great film, it nevertheless hits the modest mark it aims for- certainly I enjoyed it more than the average big budget overblown levithian that is usually thrown at the screen these days.
jtur88
This was a decent watch, but nothing that I would particularly recommend to anyone. Acting performances were generally quite good, and the story certainly off-beat enough to keep one wondering where it would go. For something a little bit different, give it a try---better than the same-old same-old.
AD
