Agnes is the one cleaning the house, getting everything ready for a birthday. She serves the people, she gets the cake - I wouldn't be surprised to know that she also baked it -, she puts on the candles... it's her own birthday.
I had to pause.
The house is full of people. They're talking. It's a birthday, after all. But Agnes is on her own. Five minutes into the movie and that notion is quite clear.
Then she's alone in the kitchen, everybody has left. She's humming the 'happy birthday song' whilst sipping on some wine.
There's a song called 'Blinding' by Florence + The Machine that goes along the lines "
Seem that I have been held in some dreaming state/A tourist in the waking world, never quite awake", that immediatly made me connect with Agnes.
Agnes is a housewife, she's a mother, she's a wife, she helps the church, she cleans, she cooks. She is somebody's something, but not something to herself.
"She's using you. Everyone uses you and you let 'em."
Those are her husbands words. They have two children. Two boys. Three men under the roof and a woman left to serve them. That irked me, although it's a reality for thousands of women around the world, and the history.
Yet, something is changing. Agnes receives a unusual gift: a puzzle. She frowns at it, but then plays along. And she likes it. She enjoys. She's fascinated by how quickly she can complete the puzzle. That makes her feel something, so she moves along with it.
So then she's in New York City. Every aspect of the vibrant city has changed. The ticket train is no longer 8 dolars, and the taxi prizes? Not even going to mention it. But she's there for a purpose only: to buy more puzzles.
But something catches her eyes in the counter. A request of sorts. Someone needs a partner. Well, a puzzle partner. She takes the number and that's how we are presented to Robert.
Who's Robert? A lover of puzzles and news enthusiast. He's wealthy, lives indoors and is also an inventer, as we come to learn. Agnes and Robert are suddenly draw to each other's abilities on the puzzles. But that's just it.
"You're so much more comfortable when you're focusing on the puzzles, aren't you?"
[...]
"I'm not comfortable, generally. Because I... Because, normally, my mind is, uh... I don't know."
"Because, normally, your mind is moving so fast, you don't really know where it's going. There's nowhere for you to express your mind. No one to express it to. It makes you nervous."
Robert notices her. He sees beyond the housewife and the catholic woman. He sees her authenticity, her hunger for life and curiosity. It sparkles something in him, I guess, after all, he's an inventor and Agnes is a mastermind on puzzles.
He is fascinated by her, whilst Agnes is gaining confidence on herself, her personal life starts to fall apart, because women can't have everything, right?
"I don't have yo tell you anything. I'm not your servant. You don't own me."
WHEN I TELL YOU I SCREAMED!!! Agnes is not the same woman from that lonely birthday party. She's finally holding accountable those who have ordered her around as if she as a ragdoll and not a human being. Honestly, it's refreshing to see a character sprawl. It's chaotic, confunsing and definetly messy, but it's a response.
I was reminded of the song called 'Sineád' by Within Temptation which describes beautifully this odyssey that Agnes is going through. "
Oh, Sinéad, for the first time/Life is gonna turn around/Only you can set it free/Oh, Sinéad, come break away with me."
"It's ironic. We had a place to go, so we never went anywhere."
It's a stunning film, it makes your heart beat fast and your fingers twist. Kelly Macdonald you're phenomenal in this role! And the accent? Oh, God... She's so enthralling! I'm glad I decided to catch on her filmograph, it's been a blast so far. ♥
