Foe

Grade: B+

I would call something like Foe an Ok Holdup movie – because at the end, or maybe before, it will make you say “Ok, hold up!” This is a plot that’s in need of better explanations for some story details. I don’t know that the timetable of events completely tracks. However, I found Foe one of the more originative films of 2023 – gorgeous to look at, with a trio of commanding performances. What works here works so well that it largely transcends its hangups and hurdles.

Director Garth Davis (Lion) takes us to the future – the Midwest in the mid-2060s. Academy Award nominees Saoirse Ronan (See How They Run, Little Women, Lady Bird, Brooklyn) and Paul Mescal (Aftersun, The Lost Daughter) are as engaging and attractive as ever. They play Hen and Junior, a married couple who live in a large house on farmland that has been in Junior’s family for generations, and must look pretty old-timey to any guest, considering the year they’re in. An unexpected visitor does arrive one night. He is Terrance (Aaron Pierre from Old), who informs Junior that he is to be sent to live in space for a period of time. Meanwhile, Hen will be left in the company of a “copy” of Junior. To help create this human Xerox of sorts, Terrance will have to live with Hen and Junior, and get to know Junior. This involves running tests, interviewing, interacting, and studying.

This is pretty much a three-person film; it could be a play. The clone angle may make one think of Infinity Pool from earlier this year, and in some ways, it’s a less manic and crazy version of it. In films about clones, there’s often a twist that is becoming a bit predictable by now. Foe’s twist kicks up some narrative dust that made me confused. If the cast had lesser actors, the movie would have lost me more than it did. But these three pros step up to the plate, no matter where the script takes them. The use of music (whether it be the score, soundtrack, or diegetic) is inspired. And some serious painstaking thought went into the locations. They are a sight to behold. Filmed in Victoria, Australia, it successfully passes for a remote futuristic barren wasteland.

The film raises both the good and bad kinds of questions. Frustrating while you struggle to get clarity on the sinuous plot points, but beneficial in the way it may spark discussions – like identity. What makes a person “them,” and might the presence of a stand-in clone be just the jumpstart and refresher the relationship needed? Ronan and Mescal are so talented, individually and together, and they look great. If you’re nursing a crush on either one of them, you will be very happy. There are scenes that take place in the bedroom and other locations that are hot and passionate, without coming across as gratuitous or pornographic.

I am recommending Foe quite heartily. For all its flaws, tangents, weirdness, and confusion it will induce, the visuals and acting are stunning in so many ways. It’s certainly one of the more thought-provoking movies of the year; one that will sit with you and reverberate in your head and heart long after the last frame. What an imagination and mind it must take to create a story like this. Now if that mind could just plug up some holes a little better. What did we ever do before message boards, Reddit, and those “ending explained” articles?

Grade: B+