Cleopatra's Second Husband

Directed by: Jon Reiss Written by: Jon Reiss Starring: Paul Hipp Boyd Kestner Bitty Schram Radha Mitchell

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It's nice to be reminded that a movie doesn't have to throw a ton of expensive special effects on the screen to try and be creepy and disturbing. Frequently a movie that focuses on the depths to which a person can sink is more likely to be effective. Cleopatra's Second Husband has virtually no special effects. But it does manage to be highly creepy, disturbing and even funny.

Written and directed by Jon Reiss, the movie starts out with a young married couple trying to have a baby. Robert (Paul Hipp) is a photographer and constantly sick. His wife Hallie (Bitty Schram) badgers him incessantly about the tiny details in their troubled efforts to get pregnant. Robert isn't the sort of person to make waves so he just puts up with it as their marriage becomes rapidly stale.

Desperate to shake things up they take an extended vacation in upstate New York. They get a friend of a friend, Zack (Boyd Kestner) and his girlfriend Sophie (Radha Mitchell) to housesit for them. Robert isn't exactly thrilled with this but once again allows his wife to push him into it.

Robert spends his vacation photographing road kill and wants to cut it short when he gets an offer to publish his photos in a magazine. They return home in no better shape than when they left. They discover their house is in shambles, the fish are dead and their housesitters using their clothes. Zack and Sophie ask to stay a little longer as they haven't found a place to live yet. Hallie lets them stay over Robert's objections and things start to head downhill rapidly.

Zack and Sophie are the exact opposite of Robert and Hallie. They're free spirited, out going and very passionate in their lovemaking. Robert quickly becomes infatuated with Sophie, leading to an affair. When Hallie finds out she storms out leaving Robert with two houseguests he doesn't want but won't make leave.

Zack begins picking on Robert, belittling him and pushing him around in his own home. It doesn't take long for Sophie to get sick of this and she leaves. With the two men left alone, a battle of wills begins that Robert, ever the push over, seems poorly equipped to engage in.

The early part of the film seems to be a comedy. It turns an uncomfortably bright light on marriage and a lot of the traps inherent in it that lead to boredom. The act of trying to have a baby essentially sucks the joy and spontaneity out of their marriage, leaving it cold and boring. The housesitters are in stark contrast. They represent everything missing in the marriage. Rather than trying to fix things in his marriage, Robert reaches for the seemingly easy solution. He looks to another woman, Sophie, who clearly has all the things he wishes weren't now absent in his own wife.

Oddly enough the blame for the lifeless nature of his marriage lies in his own lack of a backbone. Unable to stand up for himself he allows his wife to turn their sex life into a mechanical uninteresting process. Rather than showing the nerve to try and change things with his wife he turns to the all too willing Sophie for sex. That weak will is the driving force behind the story. The entire situation degenerates because everyone takes advantage of him.

Eventually we are left with just the two men and Zack is all too willing to take anything he wants from Robert. Boyd Kestner does a great job with the role of Zack. He is the schoolyard bully grown up and still preying on people weaker than him. Kestner imbues Zack with just the right mixture of cockiness, maliciousness and a lack of scruples. His character seems to take extreme pleasure in the strange living arrangement.

Paul Hipp also does a great job, having to turn himself into a total spineless blob. In his hands, Robert generates an aura of sad resignation. He seems to be a person who has simply accepted that the world is just going to keep kicking him while he's down. For most of the movie the viewer is left wondering how he could possibly be such an incredible wimp. While Zack's behavior indicates an evil nature, Robert's behavior seems to represent an even deeper sickness. Healthy people simply don't take that much abuse.

The movie eventually takes a very disturbing turn when it becomes apparent that Robert doesn't have an endless supply of patience for abuse. The depths of his sickness are suddenly apparent as he slowly unfolds a plan for retaking control of his home. To describe the remainder of the movie would be a horrible disservice to the viewer. It is enough to know that the movie succeeds at distubing far better than the typical horror movie. The movie never tries to scare its audience. Instead it does its best to create a feeling of dread and discomfort and succeeds admirably.

This movie isn't for everyone. Despite being extremely well made on a shoe string budget, the look at the behavior that lurks just below the surface of civility will likely put off many viewers. Similarly, horror fans might be turned off by a lack of big scares and spilled blood. But for those who enjoy a thoughtful thriller the movie is immensely rewarding. The plot is sharply executed and despite it's low budget the movie looks great. Shots are well positioned to create feelings of imbalance and add tension.

The combination of dark comedy and a psychological thriller in a plot that seamlessly weaves the two together is a rare treat. The movie is a sharp reminder that a good story is the most important thing in making a good film. If you get the opportunity to see it, I highly recommend doing so.

- John Shea