Chloe

Turning to a sharply crafted script by Erin Cressida Wilson for inspiration, Atom Egoyan enters the world of a well-heeled Toronto couple in his elegant new film. Chloe is his most emotionally direct and accessible work since the Academy Award®-nominated The Sweet Hereafter. Veteran actors Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson give standout performances, but it is the sultry youngster, Amanda Seyfried, who provides the sizzle in this highly entertaining, mind-bending tale of sexual jealousy in which appearances belie the truth – perhaps.

Catherine (Moore) and David (Neeson), she a doctor, he a professor, are at first glance the perfect couple. Happily married with a talented teenaged son, they appear to have an idyllic life. But when David misses a flight and his surprise birthday party, Catherine's long-simmering suspicions rise to the surface. Suspecting infidelity, she decides to hire an escort (Seyfried) to seduce her husband and test his loyalty. Catherine finds herself “directing” Chloe's encounters with David, and Chloe's end of the bargain is to report back, the descriptions becoming increasingly graphic as the meetings multiply. Egoyan gradually turns up the heat, and the relationship between the two women intensifies; ultimately, no one will remain immune to the forces put into play.

Shot in a cool, crystalline style, Chloe is a subtle and supercharged examination of desire and suspicion between a husband and wife. Beneath the surface beauties of what should be a perfect life, a host of emotions are waiting to explode. Egoyan brilliantly places the cast's superbly judged performances against a sharply etched modernist world of glass and mirrors that ensnares and disorients the protagonists. But the film is also an unabashed celebration of Toronto's landmarks – its streets, hotels, restaurants and public spaces. One of our master filmmakers takes our familiar world and turns it upside down. This is a startling, touching piece of moviemaking.