Through two movies Joshua Marston has established himself as a tremendous filmmaker, capable of exploring corners of society that most of us will never see. He broke out with the drug mule drama, Maria Full of Grace, and followed that up with the excellent family saga, The Forgiveness of Blood, which appeared on my final list of must-see movies that year. Marston re-emerged at Sundance with his latest film, the mystery Complete Unknown, and the first trailer for it has arrived.
Starring Rachel Weisz Michael Shannon, the story centers on a married man who encounters an old flame, someone who reinvents her persona every few years, and it turns his stable life upside down. Basically, Weisz's character isn't suffering from an identity crisis, she's found an identity solution.
I have to be honest; I saw this at Sundance and despite it having two of my favorite actors and a director I admire greatly, this was the biggest disappointment of the festival. Little about the actions of either lead character made any sense, and you could see the confusion in Weisz and Shannon's performances. And this was all lead up to by an introduction by Marston, who bemoaned frequently how few people paid attention to The Forgiveness of Blood. Well, he may not want people to pay attention to this one.
Complete Unknown opens August 26th.
