How distraught is Annette, the deeply troubled British mother of two, played by Daisy Ridley in “Magpie”? She’s got a short, angled haircut, which, in another context, might be the height of elegance (very Isabella Rossellini). Except the film uses it as a symbolic expression of her trauma, like Vidal Sassoon’s famous clip of Mia Farrow in “Rosemary’s Baby.” Annette, who is on some serious medication, looks in the mirror until she breaks. Does she have telekinetic powers? No, she broke it with her hand (which was bleeding in the sink), but the force of her pent-up anger was clear. Ben (Shazad Latif), her Indian-British husband, is a famous author, and every comment she makes about his work is sly research. She speaks in short, terse, “civilized” terms. One time a bird crashed into her window. The entire atmosphere of the film is steeped in her cold anger.
Annette suffers from something deep, but it is not an illness. It is a grief that can overwhelm mothers raising their young children, feeling lonely, isolated, and perhaps abandoned. It turns out that Ben committed a primal sin, and it was simply this: after the birth of their son, Lucas, he went away for months to look for a book, unaware of how much Annette needed him. He put all the responsibility on her, and when he came back, she was never the same.
The complex and even shocking undercurrent that some mothers experience is not just a good subject for a movie; It’s a long overdue one. However, “Magpie” introduces Annette to the audience in a way that seems somewhat extreme, and the entire film is like that. Most of us don’t bat an eye at the sight of cinematic porn properties, but the house Annette and Ben own in the countryside outside London is as massive and spacious as a museum. When Annette goes to lunch with a former colleague, the stagnation of their relationship — and the sound of Lucas crying in the restaurant — adds awkwardness to every moment. Then the plot begins. Annette and Ben’s nearly eight-year-old daughter, Matilda (Heba Ahmed), has been cast in a big-budget costume drama, where she is set to play the daughter of the main character, played by one of the characters. A glamorous Italian movie star named Alicia (Matilda Lutz).
Ben accompanies Matilda on set, and we know from the first minute that there is a relationship between him and Alicia (much more than he seems to have with his wife). In case we missed the point, one tabloid site shows a paparazzi shot of the two of them, asking who Alicia’s new “mystery man” is…and this is only the second day of filming. Much of “Magpie” seems over-the-top but it’s assured. It’s good that the movie shows us Ben’s interest sparked by Alicia’s famous sex tape. But should this point be emphasized by having him masturbate in the shower, and having Annette hear him through the door? While a crush develops between Ben and Alicia, the mood of the film seems to be going for a bleak indie film called “Fatal Economy.” My idea was that “Fatal Attraction” was much more accurate.
As the “Magpie” series continues, a funny thing happens. You begin to settle into the film’s over-the-top style, its mixture of clarity and mystery. You accept that this is not Hitchcock, or even Adrian Lean. First-time director Sam Yates is working from a utilitarian script by Tom Bateman, which fluctuates in mood, but there is a primal charge to the film’s no-frills presentation. You want to see what happens next. And Daisy Ridley, on whose idea the film is based, knows exactly what she’s doing. She dares to play Annette as fragile and “unreasonable,” because that’s how a man like Ben views her. He doesn’t realize that he is the problem: his entitlement, his ignorance of what mothers actually go through. He just wants to leave everything behind and indulges in an affair with Alicia, who is of great interest. The two start texting flirtatiously and then passionately. He believes he has found a way out of his stagnation. But he has no idea what’s really going on. Neither does the public.
Shazad Latif, with his tall good looks, gentle smile, and man bun, plays Ben as someone who has worked hard to be sensitive and therefore believes that what he wants is deserved. But he is wrong. He is, in the movie’s terms, a toxic person, but “Magpie” is not rhetoric. It’s a thrilling film, and despite the simplistic scripting of many of its scenes, it builds toward a surprisingly enjoyable and satisfying climax. It’s one of those “The Usual Suspects”/”Saltburn” twists, which means you have to accept that there is only a certain logic in movies. But when the twist comes, it has an audience-pleasing resonance. It’s not just about playing games. It’s about a mother saying how much she wants to be loved.