Review: ‘Eternal Beauty’
Schizophrenia has rarely been depicted well on screen and the primal success of Craig Roberts‘ new drama is that it neither diabolizes nor simplifies its central character’s illness. ‘Eternal Beauty’ follows Jane (Sally Hawkins) as she lives on medication following several hospital stays. Her determination and attempts to live in harmony is often interrupted by her mean-spirited family – emphasized in flashbacks to her futile wedding and an emotional clash with her sister at a beauty pageant. Hawkins captures Jane’s desperate attempts at finding compassion as she navigates a world that keeps trying to suppress her and reign her in.
In the supporting cast, Alice Lowe sparkles as Jane’s only thoughtful family member, her sister Alice. The other sister Nicola (Billie Piper) is delightfully awful but does not get much of a chance to grow on this note. There’s a hint that her mental well-being may be fraught as well, but aside from Jane’s unfailing understanding towards her, it isn’t given enough thought to fully flesh out. The film’s most important moments revolve around Jane’s relationship with the aspiring performer Mike (David Thewlis). Their prompt association – the only time we see Jane live exclusively for herself – is overwhelmingly delicate and completely good natured.
Despite the sometimes fluctuating feel of the film’s narrative, Sally Hawkins’ incredible performance and writer/director Roberts’ eye for style keep ‘Eternal Beauty’ wholly captivating. Pops of color appear in unforeseen places, from Alice’s dining room to the club where Mike plays his music, breaking the repetitiveness of other inauspicious settings, and a number of fun choices in cinematography make the procedures much more than your standard straight-on character study. But it’s Sally Hawkins in the central role that’s worth staying around for; each detail of her execution is something of a masterpiece in expression. From more comprehensible moments like interacting with a world she doesn’t very often understand to complex scenes where we can’t conceivably know all that’s going on in Jane’s head, Sally Hawkins is continuously tuned in and noteworthy.
As the credits roll, the brave and strong ‘Eternal Beauty’ leaves an enduring impression. Craig Roberts’ re-frames the story by embracing Jane’s mental illness instead of romanticizing or demonizing it, choosing to depict both the remorselessness in June’s ailment and the bliss she occasionally experiences in her life. This complex portrayal is what makes ‘Eternal Beauty’ worth watching.
Rating: 4/5
Eternal Beauty will be released in theaters and on VOD on October 2.