Stoker reviewed by Mark Kermode

[@avayehvasch7991]

This movie was so intriguing. I was so invested in how events, and emotions slowly folded. The editing was beautiful, the sound design, colour and acting superb!

[@handsomebrick]

"If you have to ask what it symbolized, it didn't." My favorite Ebert quote.

[@maxbooth179]

Symbolism is subliminal messaging. If you don't need to ask what it symbolised then it didn't.

[@thenamelessone6119]

@@maxbooth179 This is an honest question, isnt part of subliminal messaging that you implicitly understand it?

[@MichaelHayes_s6]

I think part of subliminal messaging is that you don't even realise there is a message to to ask about 😆

[@connorlalitte6799]

It's about looking for a box which you think has a shoe in it, and it hasn't, it's got a key in it. Perfect.

[@MichaelHayes_s6]

I take it to mean that instead of just being 1 year bigger/older/slightly different she is suddenly in a whole new world and everything has changed. But I may be overthinking it 😁

[@MattCipolla]

The cinematography shown in that clip alone was fantastic. I'm obsessed with one-shot scenes.

[@DanielWhite-v4e]

[@SonsOfShock1]

Amazing film. Conjured up a kind of american gothic we rarely see anymore. Reminiscent of 'We Have Always Lived In The Castle' by Shirley Jackson or Thomas Tryon's 'The Other'. Oddly kind of timeless, emphasised by the flash-backs and flash forwards. Also I don't think Mark knows the difference between Freudian and Jungian symbolism, but that's fine. In Freud a spider always meant a predatory mother figure, so... now you know. Don't think it would help you understand the film any better though.

[@muunyalboox]

THANK YOU!!!!! Finally I found a review that makes justice to this movie!!! Thank you!!! 😭

[@katethegr8324]

My-my 10 years ago, feels like I saw it recently.

[@rukeyser]

Turns out to be pretty straightforward. As a child Charlie killed youngest brother, as adult he killed her dad, and planned to kill her ma. After he killed his younger brother, he’d been locked up. Her DAD knows this, and trains her all her life to hunt for TWO reasons: to channel her inclination to kill, AND to prepare her to deal with his murderous brother . That’s why he leaves crazy Charlie’s letters from the nuthouse to her. Charlie does indeed come to kill her ma and claim his niece as his bride-in-blood. He succeeds in turning her out as a sociopathic murderer, but she turns him down dead, saves her ma, and hits the road - taking the sheriff out on her way out of town....

[@Firespawnable]

Great summary 💯

[@benbooth2783]

Its rare to hear somebody speak so many words while actually saying very little.

[@CitizenDevi]

"Don't click your fingers when I'm lecturing you." 😂👏 What a hilarious sentence for some reason.

[@mariezaj]

Mark, I wanna watch movies with YOU! You are spot on with Stoker.

[@kim7990]

The uncle already given her "psychotic of thinking" because he made her wear the same shoes every year until she's 18 which kinda interesting

[@teamrasputin]

I'm so glad to see Mark enjoyed it. I've been looking forward to Stoker for a while now, can't wait to see how his review corresponds with it!

[@ed-od9sd]

I agree with Mark's argument that" it is driven by symbolic" meanings in its visual depiction. The proofs that back up is that some people were disappointed because of their expectations that depend on the usual thriller movie genre plots

[@jetrocketboy]

The camera was really good in the scene shown!

[@TobeUK]

"are you being difficult on purpose?!" no Mark, you're not answering Simon's question haha.. film looks interesting, nice review :)

[@MrAgodfrey]

Loved Stoker - but its what you get when Psycho meets Shadow of a Doubt - the Hitch film in which Uncle Charlie came to stay!

[@seandevine3559]

I think the spider symbolizes the killer inside her.

[@whidisyaputra3340]

Agree

[@MichaelHayes_s6]

There was a fly buzzing twice when a box got opened, wasn't there? Also, colour yellow clearly had some ominous significance, but I was never quite sure what it was.

[@cjknotty]

Good old Simon playing the Everyman role.

[@svvmaq_]

I so often see this criticism of movies being too stylish... what’s wrong with that? what’s wrong w playing w aesthetic almost like a character itself? would u want all films to be hyper realistic grounded in reality? if it fits the tone of the film.. i dont see it being a bad thing. moreover, whenever a film is stylish ppl so quickly say it had not substance... well it mighta just went over ur head then bc i thought, yes, while this movie had many cliches, it still had plenty substance. i feel americans are so reliant on things being so literal and feed to them... i love being r intrigued by the quiet details or visual imagery of a film bc that to me is more interesting than this happened and then this happened ... but that’s just me.

[@rebekahlegionsundaygirljou5543]

The interviewer is being very difficult in this. This is a great movie review. I have to see this movie! I can't believe his one slipped the net & that I haven't seen it.

[@999scrooge999]

Wow, i open this video waiting for a review but i found a key instead. That was intense!

[@oleok3]

No, Mayo isn't. You have to understand the roles. Mayo is acting the role of the journalist, asking for explanations and concrete examples when Kermode get's overly abstract and esoteric. Which Kermode is here. Mayo asks open questions without neglecting the qualities of the film. Not all of the listeners are gonna be on pace with Kermode. A lot, like you and I, are, but not everyone.

[@avastyer]

Their exchange is hilarious!

[@gertruthgraves4174]

Liked this movie and yes you can interpret it in your own way. You could argue that we all have a dark side and when pushed or motivated (by uncle Charlie) we are able to kill. Uncle Charlie being a metaphor here. Also the debate of nurture vs nature.

[@bobbybeard1497]

In this case she was literally trained to be a killer by her father on the hunting trips. He did it so she could defend herself but it ended up turning her into a cold blooded killer

[@thekwizatshaderach]

" The duality of man, the Jungian thing sir "

[@ramenshino]

Loved this film

[@silverkitty2503]

looking for a box with a key not shoe ....tres alice in wonderland

[@58dfbnbf344]

I'm really looking forward to seeing this, and Nicole Kidman's I've-been-preserved-in-plastic image looks like it will work pretty well for her character!

[@D1rtyraver]

this movie is starring Nicky Campbell circa 1980

[@mcmcmanus9375]

Your on the radio - no need to wave the arms

[@smithjjas1]

Nicole Kindling... lol

[@HorribleMuttonChops]

I'm with Kermode on this. I thought the movie was overly stylish at some points but you can't deny the symbolism. It's so in your face. Mayo is just being a dick and playing "stubborn and unimpressed." Take it for what it is. A THEMATIC film, SUPPLEMENTED by narrative.

[@MichaelHayes_s6]

Think he just wanted it articulated to us listeners, since Mark was using grand words without really explaining what he meant.

[@recordatron]

I really liked this review, Mayo actually really made me laugh for once.

[@mcmh1988]

Yeah what the hell does he mean Jungian and Freudian symbolism? Was thinking the same thing!

[@DanielWhite-v4e]

[@tigermunky]

I absolutely love all of Chan Wook's films, but his last film 'Thirst' is terrible (in my humble opinion). So the idea that he is referencing vampires really worried me. But if Kermode thinks it's good, I may well like it.

[@cherearth]

my favorite movie ❤

[@DimmedDiamond]

If mark has to make up terms with definitions that he's not sure about to describe a movie... i'll probably not see it.

[@TheHappydead]

SPOILER **** Wow he did Oldboy too, this guys quite fond of incest isnt he. SPOILER END *****

[@hawaashna4890]

why don't adults get along...i was so distracted by their disagreements and confusion

[@francaisimages]

aha! best ending ever.

[@wastedpotential616]

Amen

[@andrewbeeable]

Ralph Brown.

[@sixamsedna]

1:29 - 85!

[@casersatz]

Has it taken him this long to realize that Mr. Mayo is difficult on purpose? He has been dwelling on trivial inconsistencies and mundane minutia for years.

[@DanielWhite-v4e]

you go Bram, I go flakes hehehehe

[@jackleaves]

finally seen it and Matthew Goode is a weak link in this film - just don't believe his character. Interesting movie though.

[@blackforest825]

I love this man, he totally owned the other guy.

[@DanielWhite-v4e]

yes franz

[@lyndabynda]

And Wayne's World

[@eternaltruth74]

That cop is out of withnail and I

[@lyndabynda]

Haha the simple truth is hilarious

[@terratrema]

Did not like this film myself. The screenplay is an orgy of half-baked clichés, the acting is stiff, blank and uninvolving, the directorial style idiotically OTT and distracting. I was alternately bored and exasperated by this astoundingly half-assed film. Dr Kermode, after Drive, Prometheus and now this, I'm beginning to find I can't trust you quite as easily as I used to. But that's just me.

[@pauljohnwood]

Think this film might be nasty and sleazy?

[@allaboutdmagic]

So that 's the first mainstream film to use symbolism in, what, about three years now? Good job, Hollywood. Keep sharpening those intellects.

[@BradPittStains]

Movie was rubbish by the way. All style, no substance.

[@eternaltruth74]

That cop is out of withnail and I