John Curran won high praise for Praise (1998), his exhausting look at sexual politics, indolence, sex, drugs and more sex in Queensland. He’s at it again with American couples in another provocative slice of misery – We Don’t Live Here Anymore. Jack and Terry (Mark Ruffalo and Laura Dern) are good mates with Hank and Edith (Peter Krause and Naomi Watts). They care for one another; run, drink, work, shop, dine, fight and laugh as friends. Yet not all is happy at home. Children have taken their toll on Jack and Terry, Hank and Edith are growing apart. When Edith turns to Jack for comfort, his concern quickly develops into a torrid affair and in response, Hank and Terry have a fling. Ruin lurks in the wings.

We Don’t Live Here Anymore is the kind of film Europe churns out once a month; questioning fidelity and the perverse logic that flows from it. Curran’s film is much less shrill than its counterparts and much more exciting for it. His nimble direction is informed by standout performances from the entire cast who make these flawed, ugly and unforgivable characters utterly fascinating. Their hypocrisy and dishonesty is mesmerizing as they negotiate the train wreck their lives have become. Here are intelligent people who can’t shake the paradox that drives them to save relationships they long to leave. Curran tinges his film with a sense of regret that inspires some hope in these apathetic, self-centred people. It’s a chilly, meditative tone that is unquestionably draining, but one that underlines a truly perceptive and spellbinding drama.

// COLIN FRASER