When Roger came to me wanting to review Stoker, the Wentworth Miller screenplay, I said, “As long as there are plenty of Prison Break jokes.” But I don’t think Roger’s ever actually seen Prison Break, which leaves the joking to me. Did anyone here watch that show? It was called Prison Break yet they broke out of the prison after the first season. Isn’t the show over? I’ve never seen a show/plot strain so hard to keep its characters together. They eventually ended up in Mexico in another prison, but get this, the prison was so relaxed that the characters were actually allowed to roam the basement area unattended. So the first prison was the most secure prison in the world and they broke out of that. Now they were having trouble breaking out of a prison where they could hang out in the basement for days at a time without anyone knowing or caring? I kept watching out of sympathy for the writers, who were tasked with making this whole thing conceivable. Eventually someone realized, “What are we doing?? None of this makes a lick of sense,” and they put the poor show down. But Prison Break will be immortalized for its ability to continue on longer than any dead show in history. And people thought Lost had filler. Anyway, I have great news. I’m reviewing an awesome comedy later in the week. It sold earlier in the year so if anyone wants to guess what it is, please do so in the comments. I’m also reviewing a haunted script. Unfortunately the only thing scary about it is the comedy. Should be a groovy week. Now here’s Roger with his review of Stoker.
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Premise: When India Stoker’s father dies, a mysterious man arrives and claims that he’s her long lost Uncle Charlie. As he integrates himself into the wealthy family, the eccentric teen is torn between trusting a man who may be an imposter and discovering her true nature.
About: Ted Foulke is the pseudonym of Prison Break star, Wentworth Miller. Carey Mulligan and Jodie Foster are attached to the project under Ridley Scott’s Scott Free production banner. Miller has actually written two scripts (the prequel script is called “Uncle Charlie”) about the unusual Stoker family and is presumably going to play the role of Uncle Charlie in both.
Writer: Ted Foulke
Wentworth Miller
I was sucked into this script without knowing it was written by “Prison Break” star, Wentworth Miller. What caught my attention was the Edward Gorey-esque illustration of a girl on the cover, and I opened it and was enamored by the writing (the description and destruction of a spider as said girl plays a piano) within the first three pages. Intrigued, I paused to look up information on the script, and quickly discovered that the screenwriter, Ted Foulke, is the non-de-plume of the actor who played Sunnydale swim team member turned Lovecraftian fish monster on season two of the Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.
So, this thing is about vampires, right?
Despite its title and my reference to the cornerstone of the House of Whedon, I’m here to report that this story has nary a vampire within its pages. Well, not of the bloodsucking variety, anyways. But Bram Stoker and the mythology he created are woven into the story as thematic metaphor.
We meet eighteen year-old India Stoker as she’s playing a piece by avant-garde French phonometrician, Erik Satie, on her family’s black baby grand. She’s an odd bird, characterized by her ever-present white and black saddle shoes and her cool demeanor. India’s a human player-piano, an Alice in Wonderland meets Edward Gorey freak, who, when it comes to being human, feels more like mimicry than genuine.
Evie Stoker, who has perhaps had too much to drink (and then some), arrives in the parlor, which is decorated like a French mausoleum (Chippendale chairs, Georgian tables, Louis XVI commodes), to berate her daughter about changing her shoes for once. Not one to acquiesce, India joins her mother at the cemetery for the funeral of her father.
Richard Stoker, according to the Reverend, was a pillar in the small community of Middle Bend, known for his openness, honesty and integrity. Apparently, he died in a horrible automobile accident. As the Reverend eulogizes, India notices a man standing alone on the hillside above the funeral, his hands deep in his pockets. The sun seems to occlude further details, and after India is distracted by someone coughing, she turns to discover that the man is gone, seemingly an apparition.
Back at the Stoker residence, we meet their housekeeper, Mrs. McGarrick, as she chastises her kitchen staff for disrespecting Evie behind her back, joking that she’s a gold digger. We catch glimpses of conversation at the wake, as people speculate about the nature of Richard’s death and the fact that he was in a closed casket, “Stan was there when they brought the body in…He said he’ll be off pulled pork for a while.”
India is shocked to discover that the mysterious man she saw on the hilltop is at the wake, talking to her mother, whom the attendees are now jokingly referring to as the merry widow. Evie is ecstatic, “I swear this is some kind of miracle, Charlie. Richard used to say you were lost forever…”
Who is this Uncle Charlie?
He was the younger brother of Richard, a man who hasn’t seen his brother in thirty years. He’s arrived to help out the family during this time of grief, and it is his first time meeting them. The Middle Bend community is abuzz with gossip about the cryptic man. The stories of his former whereabouts and what he’s been up to are conflicting and varied.
Is he an explosive experts who just got back from a dig in Megiddo? Or was he in Machakos digging wells? Is he a medic? Did he graduate from Cornell Business or Yale Divinity school? Is he a war hero? A minister? A poet? No one knows for sure, but there’s one thing that we, the audience, knows.
India doesn’t trust him.
Is he an impostor, a slick con artist preying on the tragedy of a wealthy family? Or is Uncle Charlie a skeleton Richard locked in the Stoker family closet with good reason, a secret that hasn’t returned because of greed, but because of dark family ties?
So, what happens, Rog?
After a few curious confrontations between India and Uncle Charlie (“Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to scare you.” “You didn’t.” And this gem: “You talk like a bad play.” “You’ll find that most people do.”), we become, with India, stubborn investigator as Evie falls for her dead husband’s younger brother.
When Mrs. McGarrick doesn’t show up for work the next day, Uncle Charlie conveniently jumps to Evie’s aid and cooks her coq au vin, revealing that he once worked at a restaurant in France under the tutelage of a Michelin-starred chef. In a tense sequence, India is sent to venture into the basement to retrieve ice cream, and it’s revealed to the audience that the body of Mrs. McGarrick has been deposited in the freezer.
India never sees the body, but instinctively keeps away from Uncle Charlie and refuses his many acts of kindness. Instead of accepting rides from him to her school, she walks. And, he creepily follows behind her in the car, waging psychological warfare.
“What do you want?”
“To be friends.”
“We don’t need to be friends. We’re family.”
At India’s school, we become even more aware of her uniqueness when she’s contrasted with the students whom surround her. She’s picked on by a bunch of jocks, and she spends most of her time to herself, ignoring the insults. Meanwhile, Uncle Charlie continues to integrate himself into the Stoker household.
Things start to look up for India when Gwendolyn Stoker arrives from California to visit the family. Auntie Gin is immediately suspicious of Charlie, and the two verbally spar when she decides to stick around longer. Is Auntie Gin challenging Uncle Charlie’s claims, or is she another con artist working for a man that may be an imposter?
We don’t know who to trust, and Auntie Gin becomes concerned with getting Evie away from Uncle Charlie so she can talk to the widow alone, “I just thought there might be…I don’t know –- arrangements to be made.”
The situation becomes dire when Evie reveals that arrangements have, indeed, already been made, and that, in fact, the family has grown quite accustomed to having Charlie around. Auntie Gin, feathers ruffled, leaves the household to stay in the only motel in the town.
What happens to Auntie Gin?
Well, we’re about forty-three pages into the script and to reveal anything else would spoil the twists and turns that transform this story from being a mystery about an imposter to something…quite different.
It’s a twist that’s needed, a string of events that spin this from the eerie Evelyn Waugh high society and The Talented Mr. Ripley imposter mystery to something even more twisted and sinister. To be honest, although I was highly impressed by the writing, especially the use of language (Mr. Miller is a genuine writer), I was a bit bored by the familiar story.
However, once it turns to the mid-point, I was sincerely creeped out by the dark depths and perverse events that transpire throughout the second half of this script.
“Stoker” is about the price of a life spent in the shadow of horror. It’s about the nature and birth of evil. In many ways, it reminded me of a novella written by the bastard child of Ian “Macabre” McEwan and John Bellairs. It’s an odd read that sticks with you, and it’s hard to deny that the writer created an intriguing role for himself to play as an actor, but despite some cool montages and flashbacks, this feels more like a stage play than a movie.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that this feels more like a vehicle for the actors, rather than the director. I don’t mean this as criticism, but just as an observation. There are two seriously dark, memorable roles in this thing that will afford two actors an opportunity to grab the mantle being passed down from Anthony Hopkins and The Silence of the Lambs.
[xx] worth the read
What I learned: I was really impressed by the way music was used to reveal India’s character. The act of playing the piano revealed the who and the what concerning India. Take note: Technically, she’s a virtuoso, but lacks passion, and perhaps, soul. So, she’s hitting all the notes and patterns, but there’s something about it that feels cold. A human player-piano, going through the motions. She’s not inspired, she’s just merely imitating. Do you have characters that create art? If not art, surely they create situations. This is the definition of an active protagonist. They create situation. And using what they create is an opportunity to help build your characters. Use not only what your characters create, but the manner in which they create it, to reveal who they really are.
Wentworth Miller