Director: Zachary Wigon
Writer: Micah Bloomberg
Stars: Christopher Abbott, Margaret Qualley
Synopsis: Follows a dominatrix and Hal, her wealthy client, and the disaster that ensues when Hal tries to end their relationship.
There’s an interesting dynamic at play in Zachary Wigon’s Sanctuary. The film serves as a chamber piece for the relationship between Hal Porterfield (Christopher Abbott) and Rebecca Marin (Margaret Qualley). What begins as a seemingly standard legal procedure between the two morphs into something much more playful, the very root of the film itself. Rebecca is a dominatrix, and Hal and her developed quite a rapport as he began stepping into the massive shoes of his recently deceased father, a hotel magnate. As Hal’s innermost feelings become revealed via his submissive relationship to Rebecca, the power dynamics at play become the very crux of the film. As Rebecca tells Hal early on in the film, what her clients need “isn’t physical… it’s mental.” In a film limited both by its runtime and singular location, Wigon and screenwriter Micah Bloomberg are able to dive into a bevy of ideas ranging from tongue-in-cheek playfulness to interesting social commentary.
None of Sanctuary could work without its two lead and (essentially sole) performers, Qualley and Abbott. The push-and-pull between them is electrifying on screen, and as their relationship twists and develops over time, it becomes clear just how great it must feel for an actor to take on a film such as this. Due to its isolated nature, a chamber piece will live or die by how invested the audience is in its characters. So, as we see Qualley committedly dive into a performance within a performance, it’s no shock why she’s becoming such a well-known figure on the big screen. In an early conversation with Wigon prior to accepting the role, she said the characters “reminded her a little bit of jazz.” Sanctuary has a plethora of moments that will leave the audience pondering over what exactly is happening, not out of confusion, but out of fascination. Motivations appear to change in the blink of an eye, and these moments serve as a reminder that some people are just fragile shells waiting to be cracked open and examined psychologically.
Take Hal for example. When explaining the character, Bloomberg said, “his entire life is a performance,” but only came upon this thought after Abbott took on the role. Upon first meeting Hal, he cockily maneuvers through legal hoops with drink in hand. He appears to be more than well-off, but very quickly, the facade falls apart. Rebecca succinctly points out that he has no idea what he wants. Hal is revealed to be nothing but another sad, rich man. Through repeatedly booking sessions with Rebecca, he sees his spending as a way to give into his insecurities in a way that feels rewarding rather than just letting them win. But seeing the push and pull between Hal and Rebecca is wickedly twisted and deviously fun. Also, on a purely cinematic level, Sanctuary is incredibly well-structured and visually creative. At key moments in the film, colorful interstitials break up the action in a way that feels reminiscent of Punch-Drunk Love. After all, both films feature broken men hoping to pick up the pieces of their lives and the relationships around them.
If the adoration of Succession can tell us anything about what audiences enjoy, when it comes to flawed yet compelling characters, with a dash of business jargon peppered throughout, it will be a hit. There’s something fascinating about taking seemingly complex businesses and funneling them into the key figures at the top of the heap. As the cast and crew of Sanctuary examine every inch of its own characters, warts and all, it leans into the notion of being able to accept everything about oneself. There’s the age-old adage present of never settling for something less than your potential calls for. Yet there’s also a very refreshing angle within Sanctuary regarding the idea of knowing what is best for oneself, even if that may seem lesser in the eyes of some around us. For a film that could easily fall into some rocky territory fairly quickly, Sanctuary is able to bring its viewer on a wild ride that will leave you with a devilish smile until the very end.
