cellar door

In Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko, it's remarked that "of all the phrases in the English language, of all the endless combinations of words in all of history, 'cellar door' is the most beautiful." There's a little bit of Kelly's foreboding atmosphere, twisty plotlines and The Box-esque what-would-you-do?-elements in Vaughn Stein's Cellar Door. Its poster and marketing may suggest a horror-tinged thriller, but the majority of the film is a marital drama. 

Architect John (Scott Speedman) and mathematician and professor Sara (Jordana Brewster) live in Oregon, and are looking to start a new chapter. Films often dwell upon certain anxieties, and this one is real estate. They are priced out of the new homes they are looking at. But a mysterious stranger, Emmett (Laurence Fishburne) offers them his beautifully restored and sprawling house, under one condition: that they never open its cellar door.

It's a deliriously goofy premise, but played straight (both Speedman and Brewster are earnest and serious in their roles). As the story progresses, their past issues emerge, John had a past with relationship with co-worker Alyssa (Addison Timlin) that seems to be still simmering a bit (perhaps more on her end). John is not the greatest in the communication department, his secrets amassing until the film's thorny conclusion.

With its attention to the lush greenery of its settings and a lavish score by Marlon Espino (occasionally, Sara plays one of its themes on the piano, suggesting narrative shifts), Cellar Door reminded me of Pacific Northwest early-90s yuppie thrillers like Disclosure and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. But the thriller aspects of the story are ultimate not so thrilling. Written by Sam Scott and Lori Evans Taylor, this is more of a secrets and lies domestic drama slow-burn, with some horror elements. Stein keeps things tight at its much appreciated under-100 minute runtime. The appealing ensemble hooked me into the drama. Fishburne is always a welcome presence. And, for those like me who are still harboring their Felicity-era crush, it's nice to see Speedman, handsome and a little wearier, play his character so thoroughly—a bit drained by what he's gotten himself into. **1/2

-Jeffery Berg