Attachment will premiere February 9, 2023 on Shudder.
Synopsis
Maja (Josephine Park, Baby Fever), a Danish has-been actress falls in love with Leah (Ellie Kendrick, Game of Thrones, An Education), an academic from London. After Leah suffers from a mysterious seizure Maja returns with her to her childhood home. There, she meets Leah’s overbearing mother, Chana (internationally acclaimed Danish actress Sofie Gråbøl, The Undoing, The Killing), a woman who could hold dark secrets.
Review
Attachment tells the story of washed-up Danish actor Maja (Josephine Park) and English Jewish academic Leah (Ellie Kendrick), when the pair has a cute introduction in a book shop it triggers a series of events which neither see’s coming. When Leah has a seizure and is injured, Maja accompanies her bath to her Hasidic London home where she meets Leah’s mother, Chana (Sofie Gråbøl).
Writer/director Gabriel Bier Gislason has crafted an incredibly self-assured directorial debut. Not only does it put a very unique spin on the dybbuk sub-genre, it also acts as a conduit for some deeply personal reflection on Yiddish folklore art and literature.
All of the film’s exploration comes from the powerful performance of Park, for whom the film was partly written. Maja starts out in a very insecure place, resenting and yet relying on her former fame to keep the lights on. Meeting Leah entirely disarms her. She’s instantly attracted to this younger, vibrant character and the feeling is mutual. After one night together, Leah can’t face leaving to return to England and the two being a fast and profound relationship.
Gislason’s story introduces mysterious elements pretty quickly. After one night, Leah’s phone is exploding with missed calls from her mother back in London. Shortly after ignoring her 15th call, Leah has a seizure which results in a serious leg injury. The seizure acts as the impetus for her return to London but now with Maja in tow. The chemistry between Park and Kendrick is pitch-perfect to the film’s story. Their relationship may be intense but it’s believable in its sweetness with small, tender moments really selling it to the audience.
But here’s where things start to get really interesting. Leah’s mother is clearly wary of Maja, what overprotective mother wouldn’t be? But it quickly seems like Chana resents her daughter’s romantic entanglements and would much prefer to take sole care of her. Gislason brilliantly sets the audience expectations early: overbearing mother dislikes her daughter’s girlfriend, is cold towards her whilst smothering her daughter. Simple right?
Of course Gislason is leading us in the wrong direction. Attachment brilliantly sets up what could have been a familiar scenario with Maja uncovering strange objects in the house which lead her to believe that Chana is harming Leah. She even makes an ally in Leah’s uncle Lev, a local bookstore owner who has more than a functioning knowledge of dybbuk phenomena. The dominoes begin to fall when strange happenings begin overnight and Leah simply doesn’t seem to be recovering after her seizure.
Gråbøl instills Chana with an emotional detachment which is fascinating to watch. Somehow protective and yet wary at the same time, she is played as a villain for much of the 105 minute runtime. It’s only in the third act when Gislason really begins to pull back the curtain and reveal what is really going on. Though there are clues throughout, it’s only when events reach a dramatic climax that the pieces fall in to place.
Attachment sidesteps all of the usual genre trappings. There’s no terrifying creature designs. No huge visual effects set pieces. Gislason has distilled the genre down to its psychologically thrilling basics and the results are both compelling and alarming to watch.
Verdict
Deeply personal and disturbing, Attachment puts a brilliant spin on the dybbuk sub-genre with its cultural and familial subtexts. Park and Kendrick both give terrific performances at the centre of the film’s queer love story, whilst Gråbøl’s tortured mother is a supernatural force as dangerous as any other in the film.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
