Anette (Daisy Ridley) has mental health problems. Her husband Ben (Shazad Latif) is a writer who left for several months, ostensibly to work on a new book but quite clearly to get away from her. Now he’s back and the relationship is tense. Their young daughter Matilda (Hiba Ahmed) is a child actor who just landed a supporting role in a feature film opposite star Alicia (Matilda Lutz). Ben accompanies her to the set every day, quickly finding himself smitten with Alicia.
That’s the set-up of Magpie, a curious psychological thriller that ought to work, yet doesn’t because of a weird structural flaw. Anette quickly realizes that her husband is trying to cheat with Alicia. He won’t shut up about her and becomes very protective of his role as Matilda’s guardian. She wants to see what’s going on, orchestrating a reason to take his place one day. The result drives her over the edge.
As a lite version of Fatal Attraction, the movie has some appeal. Ridley is outstanding, showing us how the realization that her louse of a husband is trying to bang a famous actress makes Anette crazy. Rather than going broad, the actress shrewdly underplays that simmering rage, which just makes it even eerier. Coming on the heels of Sometimes I Think About Dying and The Marsh King’s Daughter, Magpie indicates yet again that Ridley is one of the finest minimalist actors working today.
Her half of the story is fine. The half involving Ben’s obsession with Alicia is the problem. Tom Bateman’s screenplay – based on an idea by Ridley – badly contrives ways to get them together. None of it feels authentic. They grow close because the script demands them to, not because of any actual chemistry. As a result, every single scene between them comes off as flat. Their supposed passion is about as exciting as watching grass grow.
Here's where that structural flaw comes in – and I’ll choose my words carefully. The last five minutes of Magpie give us information about the Ben/Alicia relationship we did not previously have. That information fills in the holes, while simultaneously getting us to see everything in a different light. Even though the movie technically justifies the thinness of their scenes together, it doesn’t make up for the fact that watching them was boring in the first place. In other words, the film is so eager to create a “Bet you didn’t see that coming!” ending that it intentionally sabotages a major chunk of its plot.
That’s frustrating, since Daisy Ridley is on fire here. Her work deserves to be seen. Unfortunately, it’s stuck in a picture whose entire storytelling style is fundamentally defective.
out of four.
Magpie is rated R for language and some sexuality. The running time is 1 hour and 30 minutes.
© 2024 Mike McGranaghan