Park Chan-wook has never been afraid to go there with his work. Stoker, his first English language feature film, is yet another prime example of his flair for capturing the taboo.
Stoker is a gorgeously shot coming-of-age story about a young woman realizing, and eventually accepting, that insanity runs deep in her blood. The adult leads, Evelyn (Nicole Kidman) and Charlie (Matthew Goode), are conventionally beautiful and complex -- their outward appearances so meticulously crafted that no one would ever suspect the darkness lurking inside of them.
India (Mia Wasikowska), on the other hand, lets her strangeness show. She wears old-fashioned clothing and is bullied at school by chauvinistic boys. Her Uncle Charlie, who mysteriously appears after the death of…