Category Archives: Emotional abuse

2011, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Action sequences, Ageing parent, Amazon Prime Brit Box, Based on a Book, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, British Mystery Series, British Police, Car Chase, Career Criminal, Clever Plot, Complicated, Contract Killing, Corrupt policemen, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crime, Crime thriller, Death of a child, Detective, Disturbing Image, DO NOT MISS, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Eccentric Detective, Emotional abuse, Ethical struggles, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Fight Scenes, Flirting, Forensics, Gambling, Grim, Grisly, Gritty, Hopeless Love, Human trafficking, Infuriating, Lawyers, Love Story, Mourning, Murder, Murder Trial, Pedophilia, Plot twists, Poker, Police Corruption, Police Culture, Possibly upsetting ending, Psychiatrists, Romance, Sad ending, Single Mother, Suicide, Suspense, Thriller, Trial Scenes, Upsetting ending, Violent

DCI Banks (2011)

From IMDB:

The tenacious and stubborn DCI Banks unravels disturbing murder mysteries aided by his young assistants, DS Annie Cabbot and DI Helen Morton.

From Amazon Prime Brit Box (or just independently Brit Box) you can stream 5 seasons of this outstandingly tense British crime series. Almost all complete stories require two consecutive episodes.  All seasons contain 6 episodes (i.e 3 stories) where each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Season 1 contains 7 episodes because the first episode is the pilot called “Aftermath”. PLEASE DO NOT WATCH this episode because it is so ugly that you might not want to watch the rest of the series. Indeed the crimes in all the stories are disturbing but season 1 episode 1 is especially nasty.

Detectives Alan Banks, Annie Cabbot, and Helen Morton are  present throughout.  Alan falls in love with Annie and a constant theme is whether they will ever get together. Alan’s father is always an annoyance. Shaun Dooley plays a wonderfully infuriating evil criminal Steve Richards.

Kathy and I eagerly ploughed through all 30 episodes, exclaiming after each story “Wow!”  In fact in one sitting we always watched two episodes making one complete story.

DO NOT MISS!

2017, Abuse of Women, Based on true facts, British Drama, Brother-Sister relations, Couture, Defies Categorization, Distant Cold Mother, DO NOT MISS, Drone warfare, Eccentric cast of characters, Emotional abuse, Haute Couture, Jealousy, Love Story, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Mushrooms, Netflix Streaming, Privileged Upper Class, Psychological Drama, Psychological Tension, Quiet, Remarkable Costumes, Sensitive treatement of emotions, Unusual, Wonderful acting

Phantom Thread (2017)

From IMDB:

Set in 1950s London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover.

From Netflix you can stream this 2 hour 10 minute British drama.

From Wikipedia we learn:

The film received acclaim for its acting, screenplay, direction, musical score, costume design, and production values. It was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2017,[and is considered one of the best films of the 2010s.

Sandra Cohen, a psychologist and psychoanalyst, maintains a web site called “Characters on the Couch” in which she analyzes characters in various dramas.  Her analysis of this film is worthwhile and extensive.

Cast includes:

  • Daniel Day-Lewis as the couturier Reynolds Woodcock.
  • Vicky Krieps as Alma.  Her resumé is extensive but somehow she is not especially well-known.
  • Lesley Manville is Cyril, the sister of Reynolds.

Please watch the film before reading “Characters on the Couch” because the analysis might discourage you from drawing your own conclusions.

Since the above references offer such good reviews, let me just say that if you enjoy a subtle, quiet,  psychological drama that challenges you to understand the emotions involved, then

DO NOT MISS!

2021, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime Brit Box, British Drama, British Mystery Series, Bullying, Controlling personality, Cult, Cult Brainwashing, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Emotional abuse, Ethical struggles, Gay theme, Homophobia, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Narcissistic Personality, Personality or religious cult, Psychological Tension, Reconciliation, Religious Cult, Suspense, Uncategorized

The Long Call (2021)

From IMDB:

Follows detective Matthew Venn as he returns to an evangelical community in which he grew up to attend his father’s funeral.

From Amazon BritBox:

Following the discovery of a dead body, DI Matthew Venn is led back into the community he left behind – and the deadly secrets that lurk there.

From Amazon BritBox you can stream the 4 episodes of this single season production. Each episode lasts exactly 46 minutes.

DI Matthew Venn’s investigation of the death of a Simon Walden leads him back to the religious cult in which he was raised, and to which he also returns for his father’s funeral.  Years before Matthew left the cult because he is gay and therefore was considered by the cult to be a sinner.  Matthew lives with his partner Jonathan Roberts who works hard to bring comfort and self-acceptance to Matthew who battles the guilt inculcated into him by the cult.  Eventually we learn how involved the cult is in the death of Simon Walden. Along the way Matthew tries to make peace with his mother Dorothy Venn.

Two notable actors are:

  • Martin Shaw plays Dennis Stephenson the leader of the cult. Martin Shaw may be familiar to you as Inspector George Gently. In this production he was 76 years old.
  • Juliet Stevenson plays Dorothy Venn, Matthew’s conflicted mother. Juliet Stevenson has a huge resumé.  My earliest recollection is her role as “The Politician’s Wife”.  In “The Long Call”  she is a aged, somewhat haggard woman. During production she was 65 years old.  In “The Politician’s Wife” she was a mere 26 years old. How time flies!

Well-done and worth a DO NOT MISS!

 

2017, Acceptable for teenagers, Agatha Christie, B-movie, Bad Acting, Car Chase, Controlling personality, Could be boring, Detective, Emotional abuse, Family Conflict, Mediocre, Murder, Murder by poison, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Revenge

Agatha Christie’s Crooked House (2017)

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From IMDB:

In Agatha Christie’s most twisted tale, a spy-turned-private-detective is lured by his former lover to catch her grandfather’s murderer before Scotland Yard exposes dark family secrets.

From Netflix you can stream this 2 hour complete film.

Both aging actors and young players unite to produce a classic  but somewhat dull and badly acted Agatha Christie mystery story. Among the aged are Glenn Close (elegant and beautiful),  Gillian Anderson (tired in a really ugly black wig), Terence Stamp (what an immense resumé) , and Julian Sands.  Gillian Anderson has done herself no favor with her exaggerated (embarrassing?) performance.

Except for finally learning which of these awful people is the killer, there is not much to gain is watching this sad, mediocre work.

 

2021, AIDS, Alcoholism, Based on true facts, Blackmail, Character Driven, Cocaine, Drama, Drugs, Eccentric cast of characters, Emotional abuse, Explicit sex, Fashion, Gay Prostitution, Gay theme, Jealousy, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Occasionaly violent, Promiscuity, Revenge, Sexual promiscuity, Vulgar

Halston (2021)

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From IMDB:

It tracks Halston as he leverages his single, invented name into a worldwide fashion empire that’s synonymous with luxury, sex, status and fame, literally defining the era.

From Netflix you can stream the 5 episodes of this series. Each episode lasts between 44 and 53 minutes.

You need not be one bit interested in fashion to enjoy this acting tour de force.   Ewen McGregor at 50 years of age puts on one of the best performances of his long career. Just take a look at his resume.

If there is a theme here, it is the often typical “rise and fall”  of a public personality (e.g. Senator McCarthy,  Jeffrey Epstein, hopefully Donald Trump).  We can only trust that the details are true to life.  Before this film I personally never heard of Halston, but I do vaguely remember Jackie Kennedy’s pill box hat.

Notice the actor Bill Pullman who plays the business man David Mahoney.  He played Harry Ambrose in the creepy three season series called The Sinner which was reviewed earlier in this blog and strongly recommended.

Hopefully you will not find McGregor’s pitch perfect effete  portrayal and the explicitly strong gay theme too off-putting.  Just admire the acting.

2018, Abuse of Women, Acceptable Trash, Addiction, Adultery, B-movie, Bad Acting, Bloody scenes, Brother-Brother relations, Bullying, Conspiracy, Controlling personality, Corny, Corruption, Cult Brainwashing, Detective, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Eccentric cast of characters, Eccentric Detective, Emotional abuse, Ethical struggles, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Flashbacks, Frame someone for a crime, French, Good Brother - Bad Brother, Imperfect, Improbable details, Jealousy, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Often downright silly, Outrageous Behavior, Police Corruption, Prison, Problematic Ending, Psychiatrists, Psychological Drama, Revenge, Romance, Sex Offender, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Predator, Sometimes seems silly, Suspense, Troubled Personality, Unjust crime conviction, Violent

The Break (2018)

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From Netflix:

Soon after arriving in Heiderfeld, inspector Yoann Peeters is called to the scene of a suspected suicide and begins uncovering troubling details

From Netflix you can stream the 10 episodes of Season 2 of this French (English subtitles) crime soap-opera.  Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.

SECOND REVIEW: Please note that there is already a review for Season 1 which is dated 2016.  To appreciate Season 2 you should first watch Season 1.  My review for Season 1 raves positively and might now be taken with a grain of salt.  It is still true that I was so taken with the plot, characters, and mystery that I once again binged on the series. However, this time let me be a bit more critical.

For adjectives describing this strange-fest consider: exaggerated, corny, repetitive, histrionic,  improbable, riddled with inconsistencies,  and ending in a questionable conclusion.  How’s that for damning with praise?

So what is so watch-worthy?  For one thing the cast consists of some of the more peculiar non-Hollywood characters I have ever seen.  All names hereafter are the character names because it is unlikely that any of the French and Dutch actors will be familiar.  Dany Bastin is the center of attention as the accused.  He is a skinny young man whose entire body is marked by a severe case of psoriasis.  When was the last time you saw an actor with truly repellent skin? He, his brother Christian, his brother’s wife Zoe, and his mother all seem to be underfed, sub-intelligent, unattractive, poverty-stricken  members of some lower order of humans.  Astrid du Tilleul is the wealthy, nasty, dissolute, drug addict murder victim. Her jealous sister Astrid and Astrid’s husband are the oddest looking pair of scheming and murderous morons to hit the screen.  Even dumber are some of the police officers.  At least one officer, Marjorie, is, however,  honest despite her physical unattractiveness.  Not so honest is her partner.

On and on and on goes the series. Yet somehow I was eagerly drawn to each episode (like a moth to a burning candle?)  If my description has not yet turned you away from this mess,  just have fun watching the exaggerated set of unlikely events.  You won’t know “who done it” until the very end.

2020, Abuse of Women, Acorn TV, Arson, Bullying, Controlling personality, Depression, Drama, Emotional abuse, Extramarital Affair, Jealousy, Lawyers, Murder, Panic Attacks, Police Corruption, Psychiatrists, Scottish, Scottish Detectives, Small Town, Spousal Abuse, Tragedy

Deadwater Fell (2020)

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From IMDB:

When a seemingly perfect and happy family is murdered by someone they knew and trusted, cracks appear on the surface of a supposedly idyllic community.

CORRECTED REVIEW: Now there are all 4 episodes.

From Acorn TV you can stream the 4 episodes of this Scottish detective series. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Rather than classify this series as a detective series, instead be aware that this story is a real tragedy in the classic sense that everyone in the story suffers.  In other words expect a bitter tasting ending.

David Tennant plays the lead tragic figure Tom Kendrick.  Tennant has an impressively long acting resumé including playing D.I. Alex Hardy in Broadchurch (which is a “must see”).  His character Tom is a remarkable contrast to that of D.I. Alex Hardy.

As the story progresses, you will see that first impressions are deceiving.  Little by little we discover the real nature of several inhabitants of this small town.

Superbly well done, but brace yourself.

 

2004, Acorn TV, Basically Sad, British, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Dysfunctional Lives, Emotional abuse, Extramarital Affair, Human spirit, Husband leaves wife, Marital Infidelity, Mother-son relations, Religious Theme, Sensitive treatement of emotions, Sister-sister relations

Belonging (2004)

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From Acorn TV:

Brenda Blethyn (Vera) and Kevin Whately (Inspector Lewis) are Jess and Jacob Copplestone, a married couple caring for his elderly relatives. But when Jacob leaves her, Jess must adapt to her new life. Based on the acclaimed novel and written by BAFTA winner Alan Plater (The Last of the Blonde Bombshells), this tale of love lost is a tender, perceptive, and humorous portrait of human endurance.

From Acorn TV you can stream this 95 minute complete film.

For years we have watched Brenda Blethyn play the detective DCI Vera Stanhope in which she is a crusty, emotionless older and not especially attractive woman.  However,  here as Jess Copplestone she comes across as a very attractive, long-suffering, unselfish and nice person.

For years we have watched Kevin Whately play Masterpiece Mystery’s Inspector Lewis as the successor to Inspector Morse   in which he is a standard detective.  Here he gets the chance to play the villain Jacob: a selfish, cowardly, middle-age man who leaves his wife for a younger woman whom he has gotten pregnant.  In this role he is very convincing.

Hats off to Rosemary Harris whose portrayal of Jacob’s mother May as a nasty, demanding “bitch” (as she is called in the film) is unpleasantly perfect.

WARNING: This is potentially a sad film in which you probably should not expect a happy ending.  When it started I thought “Oh, this is too painful to watch”. But when I started to leave, fortunately the wonderful acting held me like a magnet. Brenda Blethyn alone is worth the price of admission.

DO NOT MISS!

 

2017, Adultery, Crude Talk, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Emotional abuse, Extramarital Affair, Family Conflict, Father-son relations, Marital Infidelity, Mother-son relations, Nobel Prize, Wonderful acting

The Wife (2017)

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From IMDB:

A wife questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm with her husband, where he is slated to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Glenn Close’s role as “the wife” has been mentioned in relation to an academy award. Her performance actually gave me gooseflesh. Watching the facial expressions in her beautiful face for an hour and forty minutes was sheer pleasure.

Jonathan Pryce had the dubious success of offering an excellent performance as “the husband”. You have to see the film to understand what I mean. But I will not spoil the plot for you. Jonathan Pryce was familiar to me as, of all things, High Sparrow from “Game of Thrones”.

My heart went out to Max Irons as the suffering “son”.

DO NOT MISS!

2011, Abduction, Adultery, Arson, Bisexual theme, Bloody scenes, Child abduction and murder, Complicated, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Dark, Detective, Emotional abuse, Extramarital Affair, Father-daughter relations, German, Grim, Mental Illness, MHz Choice, Murder Investigation, Police Culture, Psychiatrists, Psychological Thriller, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Violent

Anatomy of Evil (2011)

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From MHz Choice:

Heino Ferch (Downfall) stars police psychologist Richard Brock in this dark mystery series set in Vienna. Brock is a loner, still blaming himself for the suicide of his wife and trying to reconnect with his daughter, newly graduated from the police academy. The only constants in his life are his faithful housekeeper, Mrs. Anni, and his friend Klaus Tauber, the owner of the coffee house where he inevitably eats all his meals.

From MHz Choice you can stream 5 episodes of this superb but truly grim Austrian TV series spoken in German with English subtitles. Each episode lasts about an hour and a half.

UPDATE March 20, 2021:

MHz Choice now offers  four episodes of season two  as well as season one.  Season 2 now contains:  “Desire,” “Rage,” “Yearning,” “Guilt.”  In the fourth episode of season two, Brock must defeat a psychopathic police commander in yet another brooding, GRIM episode.

UPDATE August 17, 2019:

MHz Choice now offers  the three episodes of season two  as well as season one.  All are at least as GRIM as season one.  See below for a discussion of season two.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

From the best online description I could find, I quote:

I’ve finally met a character more morose than Kurt Wallander.

Sad, isolated, injured detectives who cannot connect with their offspring  are all the rage now. Nonetheless, if you enjoy grim (and I mean G-R-I-M-!!!) you will love these stories. Even my wife Kathy (who usually leaves the room during especially tense or violent scenes) is addicted. In fact both of us manage to stay awake during the entire show.

Episode 3 “Fear” ends with a really devastating scene. You are warned!

SEASON TWO:

“Desire”, “Rage”, and “Yearning” are the titles of the three season two episodes. All, as in season one, are characterized by dark, beautiful, careful cinematography. All are slow moving except for the violent scenes.

“Desire” is perhaps one of the strangest murder mysteries that I have ever seen because not until close to the end does it become clear that there even was a murder.

Brock barely survives “Rage”. When it is over Brock now has a dangerous and corrupt enemy in the police force. Brock’s daughter continues to work in that police force. That corruption and its many murders must eventually (we hope) see justice.

In “Yearning” Brock is recuperating both physically and mentally in his apartment. He spends his time with a pair of binoculars spying on his neighbors across the street. In a story reminiscent of “Rear Window” he witnesses a murder and needs all the help he can get to bring the killer to justice.

“Yearning” concludes with a situation that cries for another season.

What an amazing discovery this series is, even if it possibly means a harrowing viewing.