Side Effects (2013)

SIDE EFFECTS begins familiarly enough: a patient Amy Taylor (Rooney Mara) is being treated by her psychiatrist Dr. Banks (Jude Law), who prescribes her different medicines to cure her of depression. It seems, however, that all of them have side effects (hence the title); one of them being to reduce Amy into a trance-like state where she does not remember what she is doing. During one of these periods she inadvertently murders her husband Martin (Channing Tatum). Sent to a psychiatric hospital for observation, she continues to be treated by Banks. As the action folds, however, so Banks becomes more and more suspicious; all is not what it seems in Amy's case. No one believes him: in the end he suffers unexpected side-effects, both personally and professionally. However he uncovers a plot involving Amy and her former shrink Dr. Siebert (Catherine Zeta Jones). Director Steven Soderbergh builds up the tension through skillful camera-work, lighting and a taut script to create a dénouement full of unexpected twists and turns. The New York settings conspire to create an oppressive environment that only serve to exacerbate the potential side-effects of Amy's and Banks's actions. Well worth a watch.