A film, like much of David Lynch and the Coen Brothers' work (and perhaps more evident in proto-pulp films such as The Manchurian Candidate) that's deliberately assembled from such well-known, recognisable parts and tropes that that very fact becomes part of its text. It's a strategy that doesn't usually work for me (outside of comedy, I guess), and this one didn't either.
That Elie seems to accept this truth is astonishing (and damningly familiar) enough, but Cronenberg goes a step further. Not only can she live with a cold-blooded killer, but it actually turns her on. Her transformation is ultimately more disturbing and instructive than Tom/Joey’s, who simply wants to convert his sins away—and finds a community happy to cooperate.
— Eric Hynes (Reverse Shot)
Synopsis: An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.