A disbelieving husband refuses to leave behind his simple life on his family’s farm. A disillusioned wife who desires to leave the farm and see the outside world for herself. Mix it with a world dying from climate change and robots progressively taking over the workforce — it’s the perfect formula for a disconcerting sci-fi film.
Set in the Midwest during a dystopian 2065, director Garth Davis depicts a sullen world that hasn’t seen anything but dust storms and crop failure in his latest film, “Foe.” Adapted from Iain Reid’s novel, the first scene reveals a vulnerable Hen (Saoirse Ronan) uncontrollably sobbing in the shower. Her narration reveals that she feels detached and invisible from her husband, Junior (Paul Mescal). Her dreams of playing the piano and venturing into the outside world have been crumbled by her marriage, yet her character yearns to reconnect with her partner. The solitude she endures is disrupted one night when a stranger knocks on the couple’s door.
The stranger introduces himself as Terrance and explains that he works for OuterMore, a government aerospace company. He says that Junior is one of many who have been randomly chosen to live in space as part of OuterMore’s effort to find a sustainable way of living in the sky. Junior reacts furiously in disbelief, immediately refusing the idea. Terrance then describes his enrollment as that of men being drafted into the army, insinuating that Junior has little to no choice. Junior begrudgingly begins the grueling preparation process for his departure. As Terrance leaves their home, Hen and Junior quickly reconcile in an intimate scene. Their happiness lasts for a second as a year passes and Terrance unfortunately returns.
When Terrance reveals that for their marriage to survive while Junior is gone, Hen will be given a biological replacement for her husband. Morals have been thrown right out the window with a bizarre idea like this. For the replacement to know every little thing about Junior and Hen, Terrance records sessions where the two reveal their innermost desires and resentments — the resentments mostly told by Hen. Terrance’s voyeuristic presence among the couple is uncomfortable to watch, to say the least. His character brings a new level of chaos into unexplainable scenes, obscuring his motives even more.
As their marriage is deconstructed, the songs played throughout the scenes perfectly narrate the state of emotions the characters find themselves in. Its selection of songs such as “The End of the World” by Skeeter Davis, “Although The Sun Is Shining” by Fleetwood Mac and more paint scenes as more frustrating — frustrating because the couple share their happy moments on-screen yet they remain distant from each other. Even with the music highlighting the brokenness of the young couple’s marriage, it does not save the film entirely.
Though Mescal and Ronan mold into each other perfectly as their characters’ marriage is put to its most exhausting limits, the jarring scenes cut to the next are confusing and leave nothing but questions. One moment their characters are crying, the next, they are hysterically laughing. It’s a hot mess of emotion that is never fully resolved, especially when the twist simply makes you more depressed about the characters’ realities.
“Foe” is untrustworthy in its narration and establishment of characters. Hen is unpredictable in her actions and words. Junior feels trapped in his reality which causes him to distrust everything that he sees. Terrance — his character is simply depicted as a horrible marriage counselor who appears to indulge in the couple’s worst moments.
What saves the film is its somewhat clever build-up to its twist, but that is until the end after an hour of confusion has scattered your brain. It’s a sad moment and it makes you question what love can look like between two beings, what morals we must remain attached to, and those that we must let go of.
Verdict: “Foe” is an unpredictable, unreliable and convoluted story of lost love and hopeless realities in a dystopian future. If you’re looking to be sad and confused for almost two hours, this will set the perfect mood.
