SIDE EFFECTS: the movie! Intense psychological thriller

This is the kind of movie that after it’s over, you hang around in the lobby discussing it with strangers. I expect such a nuanced performance from Jude Law who plays the psychiatrist, but Catherine Zita-Jones has outdone herself and I’d never heard of Rooney Mara before. Wow, how magnificently understated her performance! And the more Tatum Channing works with great actors, the closer he gets to being one himself.

I don’t want to give away the plot, because it unspools slowly, but with such ferocity that you could choke on your popcorn. But what I want to add here is that the next time you see a drug rep in your doctor’s office or hear a commercial for a drug on TV, maybe that’s the drug you DON’T want to take. Also, it’s a tale of how honest mental health professionals can be held accountable for the actions of their unstable patients. How rewarding, but also terrifying it must be to be in the mental health field. So many ethical questions in this movie. And adrenalin rushes!