The Wasp, 2024.
Directed by Guillem Morales.
Starring Naomie Harris, Natalie Dormer, and Dominic Allburn.
SYNOPSIS:
Guillem Morales’ The Wasp, the screen adaptation of Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s acclaimed play of the same name, sees depressed housewife Heather approach former childhood friend Carla with a proposition: she wants her to help kill her husband.
Trapped in a loveless marriage and unable to conceive, Heather (Naomie Harris) is introduced to the audience as a lonely, trapped, desperate woman with nowhere else to turn. But she’s living a wealthy lifestyle and has cash on the hip, while the pregnant Carla (Natalie Dormer), her hot-headed former classmate, works on a supermarket checkout and lives in a small flat with her husband and three children, seemingly making her the ideal candidate for a quick payday. But as the film unfolds, it’s clear that there’s more to these two characters – and their history together – than initially meets the eye.
It’s always a challenge adapting a stage play for the cinematic medium, and Morales mostly succeeds. The use of flashbacks to bring to life Heather and Carla’s shared past is particularly clever – the lighting and sound presenting some scenes as suspenseful horror – as we gradually learn more and more each time. One of the more vibrant scenes in the film is Heather’s initial reunion with Carla, as the two women walk and talk with purpose, giving the scene an unstoppable energy and urgency as the stakes continue to be raised.
The film really kicks into gear when the two leads begin to hatch their plan; a genuinely funny observation of two normal, everyday women trying to do something completely out of their comfort zone, cleverly played for laughs to give the feel of two old friends reuniting, but also to relax the audience just as things are about to take a dark turn. The shift in narrative and power in this scene is both surprising and admirable – simply put, The Wasp is a film best seen with little prior knowledge of the details.
The film works both as a suspenseful, engaging and darkly funny thriller, and also as an insightful look at childhood trauma and the scars it can leave. Heather and Carla both had very different upbringings but experienced their own difficulties growing up; issues that neither properly understood at the time but that have come between them and affected their lives in the years since. The Wasp is all about how pain and anger can drive any of us to do things we’d never imagine of ourselves.
Dormer is the standout here, producing perhaps a career-best performance as Carla, at once likeable and unlikeable, funny and unnerving, approachable and off-putting. It’s a tough balance, but it’s a task she excels at. Harris also succeeds as Heather, transitioning between varying traits in a way that never feels jarring, and the pair share an excellent chemistry that the film thrives on.
There are moments in the film that don’t always work, with some lines of dialogue feeling a little more on-the-nose and silly in the cinematic medium than they perhaps would’ve done on stage and having the undesired effect of slowing it down and feeling as if we’re simply watching a filmed recording of the play. But these moments are few and far between. For the most part, The Wasp is a surprising and clever thriller with insightful thematic undertones, smart direction from Morales – whose work on Inside No. 9 makes him the perfect person for the more claustrophobic scenes in the third act – and outstanding lead performances from Harris and Dormer that elevate the work into something special.
SEE ALSO: Exclusive Interview – Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer talk The Wasp
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Dan Barnes
Originally published August 26, 2024. Updated August 29, 2024.
