Allure

    Allure
    2018

    Synopsis

    Plagued by the abuse of her past and the turmoil of failed intimate encounters, Laura struggles to find a lover and a sense of normalcy. Her beacon of hope comes in sixteen year-old Eva, a talented pianist disillusioned by the life her mother imposes upon her. An unlikely relationship is formed between the two and Eva becomes an obsession to Laura. In light of Eva's unhappiness, Laura convinces her to runaway to her house and they soon find themselves caught within an intense entanglement. Manipulation, denial and codependency fuel what ultimately becomes a fractured dynamic that can only sustain itself for so long.

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      Cast

      • Evan Rachel WoodLaura Drake
      • Julia Sarah StoneEva
      • Denis O'HareWilliam
      • Maxim RoyNancy
      • Joe CobdenBenjamin
      • Jonathan ShatzkyGuy With Laura #1
      • Max LaferriereGuy With Laura #2
      • Yardly KavanaghOffice Clerk #1
      • Teresa PiccianoOffice Clerk #2
      • Lara BinaméWaitress

      Recommendations

      • 91

        IndieWire

        Tightly written and sensitively rendered, the devastating film is propelled by masterful performances, led by a bewitching Wood in the role she was born to play.
      • 75

        The Film Stage

        We’re shown damning cycles feeding on each other that prove worse when their hypocrisy and irony is acknowledged. And both Wood and Stone will make you scream and cry depending on what they allow or ignite.
      • 75

        The Playlist

        It’s a well-made, gutsy film. So, if you can withstand the whole soul-crushing feature, you’ll probably be glad you stuck it out. If “glad” is an emotion you can still feel afterward.
      • 70

        Variety

        A Worthy Companion is a lacerating snapshot of what abuse really does: how it can tear away someone’s identity.
      • 63

        ReelViews

        Despite a threadbare screenplay featuring overfamiliar motifs, the movie gains traction as a result of a committed, riveting performance by Evan Rachel Wood.
      • 50

        The Hollywood Reporter

        Sluggish and somber, with nary a wink, chuckle or sigh of relief to mitigate the misery, the film is a slog. That's unfortunate, because the writer-directors have a strong visual sense, and, in Wood, a magnetic lead.
      • 50

        Los Angeles Times

        Allure is powered by Wood's intense charisma. Laura deploys her magnetic gaze as a weapon, though the destruction she wreaks is most often directed at herself. The character's situation is always untenable, and as it collides with inevitability, the co-writer-director Sanchez brothers lose the tight grip of control they've maintained over the story.
      • 50

        RogerEbert.com

        Wood, whose whippet-thin appearance in this dank noir-ish drama semi-draped in mystery could be described as Kristen Stewart lite, fully dedicates herself to embodying a rather unpleasant and contradictory character as she attracts her prey and then goes about abusing them physically and emotionally.