Foe – Film Review
by Frank L.

Director – Garth Davis
Writers – Iain Reid, Garth Davis
Stars – Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, Aaron Pierre

Garth Davis co-wrote the script with Iain Reid, the author of the 2018 novel of the same title. Reid also wrote I’m Thinking of Ending Things which was recently turned into a film by Charlie Kaufman.

The film is set in 2065 when AI is capable of making an exact human replica. Climate change has degraded the land into a dusty waste. It is set in the Midwest of the United States. However, it is shot in Australia so the numerous skeletal trees in a parched landscape is not what springs to mind when considering a Midwest landscape scorched by climate change.

In a weather-beaten, farmhouse in a desolate landscape live married couple Junior (Paul Mescal) and Hen (Saoirse Ronan). It has always been his home. They appear to be the last couple standing in the bleak terrain. He works in a gargantuan chicken factory and she in a busy diner.  However, their farmhouse appears to be in a remote location far from any other human habitation. They apparently have no neighbours. She plays the piano and his only domestic occupation appears to be to drink an odd bottle of beer – quite a few. Their marriage is past its sell-by date but staggers on.

The government of the day has determined that the best way for humanity to survive is to colonise space. Out of the blue, a stranger called Terrance (Aaron Pierre) arrives at the farmhouse. He is an emissary of the government. He states that Junior has been chosen (no reason given) for the task of making a journey into space in order to colonise it. The bad news is that Hen is to stay put. However, it is not all gloom as there will be a real-life clone of Junior here on earth to keep Hen company. Needless to say Junior is suspicious of Terrance. A year passes and Terrance returns and the film triangulates between the three of them. Junior is not happy with his presence, to say the least.

The action is very slow moving with close-ups of Junior’s and Hen’s faces. It starts with a long sequence of Hen in a shower, There are lengthy scenes of Hen and Junior interacting, both vertically and horizontally, which allow Ronan and Mescal to display their considerable acting talents. However, the script gives them little material on which to work other than their own innate ability.

There are many puzzling features not least, why the clone cannot be sent into space instead of Junior. Another is the variety of simple frocks that Hen wears which, while simple, are well cut and on Ronan certainly stylish. You would have thought that one frock would have done and no reason is given for her several changes. Maybe planet Earth is not as redundant in 2065 as the storyline suggests and fast fashion still exists! Pierre is suitably formulaic as a government official. However, his natural good looks make it easy to understand why Junior is highly suspicious of him.

There may be something in the storyline which will chime with couples who have been together for a considerable time with little prospect of the mundanity of their relationship changing for the better. However, the film notwithstanding the quality of the cast failed to escape from the dreary grimness of its blasted landscape. That said, while it is unlikely to damage the careers of Ronan or Mescal, it is difficult to see it adding to the lustre of their already commanding reputations.