Review: Suburbicon

Welcome to Suburbicon, a community whose idea of itself as "a melting pot of diversity" is defined by the full spectrum of whiteness. One can well imagine the shock that electrifies this cookie-cutter corner of Americana when - gasp! - the African-American Mayers family moves in. What will become of their property values and their sense of safety? "We demand our civil rights to live where we want and with who we want. And with God's help, we will overcome."

One can be forgiven for believing that Suburbicon, directed by George Clooney from a long-abandoned screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen, is a satire of 1950s liberalism but the darkness that dwells behind the white picket fences have less to do with race relations than with good old-fashioned murder. Though Clooney pulls off some stinging moments in the neighbourhood's treatment of the Mayers, the racial subplot feels out-of-place in what is essentially a squib of James M. Cain's noirs, which the Coen Brothers riffed on in Blood Simple and Fargo.

Next door to the Mayers live the Lodges, and they are in trouble. Two robbers, Sloan (Glenn Fleshler) and Louis (Alex Hassell) are in their home and, much to young Nicky's (Noah Jupe) horror, tie up and chloroform all members of his family. When Nicky awakens in hospital, he learns that his wheelchair-bound mother Rose (Julianne Moore) is dead. Her identical twin Margaret (also Moore), who survived the incident, soon moves in to help her sister's family. The film wastes little time in insinuating that there's more between the grieving widower Gardner (Matt Damon) and Margaret than mere familial relations. Margaret, her brunette locks changed to Rose's shade of blonde, has taken her sister's place as housewife and mother with nary a missed beat. "It ain't right," insists Nicky's Uncle Mitch (Gary Basaraba), who's suspicious about the living arrangement and concerned about Nicky's welfare.

Uncle Mitch is right to be worried for, whilst the Mayers' home is besieged by increasingly uncontrollable protesters, trouble keeps knocking on the Lodges' door. Not only are Sloan and Louis back to collect on the debt owed to them by Gardner, they're intent on getting rid of any liabilities such as Nicky, who recognised them during the police line-up and can't understand why his father and his aunt didn't name his mother's murderer. Then there's Bud Cooper (Oscar Isaac, having a grand old time), the insurance claims investigator who immediately cottons on to Gardner and Margaret's scheme. Needless to say, all the detergent in the world can't erase the blood that flows in the film's third act.

When Suburbicon keeps its focus on being a pulp noir, it's a nastily enjoyable piece of work. Both Damon and Moore are excellent, each playing off their decent and wholesome facades to chilling effect, especially in scenes involving the terrific Jupe. Margaret maintains her Stepford wife veneer and Marilyn Monroe soft voice as she essentially threatens young Nicky; meanwhile, Gardner's father-son talk with Nicky at the dinner table increasingly unsettles as his words of comfort turn a very dangerous corner.

Clooney keeps the mayhem sprightly and diabolical. Suburbicon may not offer anything new on the genre, but it certainly is, for the most part, an extremely satisfying entry.

Suburbicon

Directed by: George Clooney

Written by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, George Clooney, Grant Heslov

Starring: Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Oscar Isaac, Noah Jupe, Glenn Fleshler, Megan Ferguson, Gary Basaraba, Alex Hassell