Kitchen Privileges
Dir/Scr: Mari Kornhauser; Cast: Katharina Wressing, Peter Sarsgaard, Angeline Ball, Geoffrey Lower
35mm, 89 min., 1999 (WP)
Proving that the scariest places are those created in your mind, Kitchen Privileges is that rare thriller: an eerie, atmospheric character study that manipulates on-screen events to affect viewer psychology. The result, I believe, is called a mindfuck, one accomplished with great bravura by writer/director Mari Kornhauser. Foreign femme Katharina Wressing stars as Marie, an agoraphobic woman recovering from a rape, who falls for Tom (Boys Don’t Cry‘s Peter Sarsgaard), a mysterious cook renting one of her rooms. The only problem? Tom’s meals might have more to do with a string of highway serial murders and less to do with dinner. Kornhauser executes this doozy of a premise with a blend of suspense, romance, and comedy that capitalizes on Marie’s inability to leave her house while feeling trapped by circumstances beyond her control. Wressing has a magnetic screen presence, one that pulls the viewer into her world of terror without abandon, and Kornhauser uses that to incorporate a modern-day morality tale into her narrative, one that examines the boundary between love and obsession. Kornhauser’s vision is sharp and seems to be right on the mark with Garrett Fisher’s vibrant visuals and Mark Bender’s menacing musical score. Sat, Mar 18, 9:30pm, Paramount Theatre
This article appears in March 17 • 2000.