Director: May el-Toukhy
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| https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film115292.html |
A lawyer, Anne, who champions the plight of an abused teenager, is herself embroiled in an affair with her young adult stepson. Anne is married to a physician, Peter, and has twin daughters. Peter's troubled son, Gustav, from his first marriage, appears at their doorstep. Gustav has never liked Anne for taking his father away from his mother. The relationship between Gustav and Peter is not fantastic, and his academic performance appears poor. For amusement, Gustav stages a break-in at Peter and Anne's house.
Although the police could not identify the culprit, Anne confronted Gustav to reveal his recklessness.
Anne and Peter's marriage had lost its spark over the years due to their respective work commitments.
The sexually deprived Anne starts a clandestine incestual relationship with Gustav, threatening to squeal to Peter about the fake burglary if he tells his father about their affair.
There comes a time when Anne wants out, but Gustav is too vested. This is the part of the movie at the height of suspense. The tension between Gustav informing the father and Anne threatening her stepson is intense.
When Gustav finally opens up to his father, Anne displays an emotional outburst that is so convincing, denying that an affair happened at all and that Peter accepts Anne's innocence. Using her feminine charm and passive-aggressive methods, Anne gets Peter to think that Gustav just creates stories out of the air. Anne assumes that everything will die down as it is time for Gustav to return to college.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Gustav goes missing and is found dead, presumably after a suicide.
Matters of the heart are intricate. Unlike other worldly exchanges, they do not operate on a quid pro quo basis. It is not as straightforward as "I do this, and you do that, and we're even." Sometimes, the other party may perceive it differently, and the outcome could be heartbreakingly devastating. The signs of depression can be pretty subtle and easily masked. No one truly knows what goes on in the synapses.
