I enjoy psychological thrillers but I didn't know what to expect of one that stars Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer together as leads. I've seen their movies separately and they are quite good actresses. So I went into The Wasp (2024) without expecting much and ended up enjoying it far more than I thought I would.
Directed by Guillem Morales based on a 2015 play by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, this British-American movie starts with Heather (Naomie Harris) and Carla (Natalie Dormer) who attended the same school as teenagers but have not seen nor spoken in years. They are adults and live opposite lifestyles.
Heather is married and lives a comfortable life while Carla struggles with a lazy husband and four children, while pregnant with another baby on the way. She works as a cashier in a supermarket, is desperately in need of money to pay rent or else, her family would be kicked out onto the street. Out of the blue, Heather reaches out to her and makes her a juicy offer that would take care of her rent problem. That is where the trouble begins.
A meeting of former schoolmates quickly turns into a nightmare that you won't see coming. I didn't and that's the beauty of this thriller. I won't say anymore because this movie is best watched without knowing the details. The less you know, the better.
My Review And Rating
The Wasp isn't cluttered with a huge cast and that’s one of the things I like about it. The focus is mainly on Heather and Carla which keeps the plot neat and the viewing experience worth it. The storytelling is well done and Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer are more than up for the job.
What I liked most was the way the movie kept making me question both women's actions and motives. There is something uncomfortable about watching them together because you never know which one has the upper hand. At first, I thought I understood them then the movie would reveal something that made me rethink everything. One moment, Dormer has control of the situation, next, Harris is turning the tables on her and I'm on the edge of my seat wondering who to root for. I applaud the scriptwriter for this.
This is not an action-packed thriller as some people might expect but it's more focused on conversations between Heather and Carla, a few flashbacks, tension woven around secrets and mysteries that slowly unfolded. These gripped my attention all through the running time of one hour, thirty minutes.
The director created calm moments where I almost felt everything was going to be alright and in seconds, they changed to scenes where tension began to build as the women talked through issues they held onto as teenagers. When the twists began to unfold and the story became clear, I was simply stunned.
Noami Harris was really good as Heather with her calm poise and soft voice that makes you wonder what's going on behind her gentle smile. The mixture of politeness, buried resentment and desperation were a shocker towards the ending and she embodied them well. Natalie Dormer was fantastic as Carla. I loved her confident and sharp presence in Game Of Thrones but in this one, she displayed the vulnerability of her character in a way that would make you understand her situation while questioning her choices.
There's no clear villain or hero in this movie. The story touched on themes of revenge, bullying, guilt and social class differences. And the fact that the things we do while young and sometimes stupid can follow us into adulthood. In other words, action and consequences. Of course, the movie makers didn't tell their audience this at the beginning, they let the characters and their actions do the work.
Rating this movie, I'd give it 8 out of 10 stars. It's well-paced with good tension and a solid plot. Though it isn't perfect as there were scenes that felt theatrical but I didn't mind. It's a reminder of why I enjoy psychological thrillers in the first place.
All images above are screenshots from the movie
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Rating: 80/100