The ingredients of lust, greed and manipulation make Steven Soderbergh’s new film “Side Effects” the perfect recipe for a dramatic plot twist and a splash of mystery.
In the beginning of the movie, the character of Emily Taylor, played by Rooney Mara, comes across as a devoted wife who is waiting for the love of her life to be released from jail. When that day finally comes, Martin Taylor, played by Channing Tatum, and Emily have a reunion that seems promising for their lives and relationship. Unfortunately, happiness does not remain in the air for long. There isn’t any indication to as what changes Emily so fast. One day she is ecstatic that her husband is home with her, and suddenly her past seems to be catching up with her. When Emily attempts suicide, she is diagnosed with depression and starts treatment. Her new psychiatrist, Dr. Jonathan Banks, played by Jude Law, comes upon an antidepressant called Ablixa while trying to help her with her illness. With the help of Emily’s ex-therapist Dr. Siebert, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, Emily and Dr. Banks, were able to make progress. After their discovery, Emily’s happiness seems to be restored, but with that happiness comes a dangerous side effect: sleepwalking.
As the sleepwalking progresses, Dr. Banks tries to find an alternative. During one of Emily’s episodes, she was cooking in the kitchen and stabbed her husband Martin when he found her. In the morning, there seems to be pieces of the puzzle missing. Emily found her husband’s body on the ground, and was arrested for a murder she didn’t remember committing. She insisted she was asleep the entire night.
There were many questions left unanswered. How could something like this happen? During Emily’s trial, Dr. Banks explained to the jury that Emily wasn’t conscious, which meant she had no motive. Emily was found not guilty for the murder of her husband Martin, but was placed in a mental hospital until she was able to recover from her depression.
Meanwhile, Dr. Banks was blamed for what happened, because he prescribed Emily the drug that came along with the life-changing side effects. Things didn’t add up in the situation though. When Dr. Banks threw himself into his research and Emily’s past, he came upon a few pieces of information that surprised him and later led to the resolution of a hidden story. Even after the trial, Dr. Banks continued to help Emily with her so-called depression and made his own tests to find the truth about her illness.
Dr. Banks knew he needed to fix Emily and Dr. Siebert’s mysteriousness and defensiveness, even though he was about to lose his wife and stepson from focusing so much on his work. There were questions he needed to answer: was everything they’d been saying all along true, or were there underlying motives that led them down this path of deception? In the end of the film, an unexpected change in the story comes into play, and shows how far people can go to get exactly what they want.
Most people watch movie trailers before actually spending the money to go see it, and they usually create a great overview without giving away too much information. When I first saw the “Side Effects” trailer, I wasn’t expecting there to be such a major twist.
The first half hour of the movie was very slow, and resembled the drifting fog over the mind in comparison to depression. There wasn’t much action, and the plot of the movie didn’t seem to really come into play until after the murder. In the end, the movie was rewarding because it was able to provide interesting outcomes and amazing amounts of crime and drama.
“Side Effects” might not be added to your list of favorite movies, but it definitely is entertaining and is a wonderful watch for anyone who enjoys thrilling plot twists and haunting stories.