Wow, Side Effects is a good movie. It begins with the tale of a depressed young society wife whose medication plays really nasty tricks on her….but then becomes so much more.
To be honest, I was really expecting a Sodeburgh procedural exposing the iniquities of Big Pharma – a Contagion-esque whodunnit following the insistent thudding steps between mild depression, drug popping and devastating side-effect breakdown. I certainly wasn’t expect an old style noir-ish psychological thriller.
I won’t tell you anything more about the plot except it’s magnificent, and twisty, and joyfully cruel. Rooney Mara is electrifying, Jude Law is fantastic. Great stuff. Vivid New York locations too.