In a set-up very similar to Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, a disturbed young woman (Mia Wasikowska), who just lost her father and is also contending with an unhinged mother (Nicole Kidman), suspects something sinister about her visiting uncle (also named Uncle Charlie, and played by Matthew Goode) and finds herself being diabolically attracted to him. Stoker was written by Wentworth Miller (of TV's Prison Break, of all things) and is the first American film from South Korean director Chan-wook Park, whose Oldboy was just recently bastardized by Spike Lee. The film is excellently crafted, exceedingly dark, and features several nicely crafted scenes. However, this picture is all style and no substance whatsoever and makes less than honorable demands of the usually captivating and seemingly sweet Wasikowska, which is disappointing considering how vacuous and unlikable this film is.
