Set in Victorian London, the film follows the life of a young woman who marries a scientist as their blissful life is interrupted following the birth of their daughter as the woman succumbs to madness relating to her physical and mental condition believing something is haunting her daughter. It is a story of this woman whose love for her husband and child is tested yet her physical ailment following her daughter’s birth forces the couple to not have sex much to the frustration of the husband who becomes troubled by his wife’s growing paranoia. Mitchell Lichtenstein’s screenplay opens with a young woman in the titular character (Jena Malone) as she has finished a play as she’s asked by her aunt Anne Montague (Janet McTeer) to see her ailing mother Constance (Glynnis O’Connor) who would tell her daughter the story of her young life and what happened to her father Dr. Joseph Barton (Ed Stoppard). It would lead into the main narrative set nearly 30 years ago when the young Constance (Jena Malone) was a shopkeeper who meets Dr. Barton as the two fall in love, marry, and would gain a daughter in Angelica.
However, Angelica’s birth was nearly fatal to both the baby and Constance as the latter still deals some physical pain which prevents her and Dr. Barton to have sex as the latter becomes frustrated where he focuses more on his work as a scientist experiment on animals to find diseases. It is something Constance would discover as it would add to their growing separation as well as her own erratic behavior where the housemaid Nora (Tovah Feldshun) would turn to Montague in an attempt to scam Constance but Montague realizes that Constance’s growing fears into this supernatural thing she’s seeing has merit where she befriends Constance and helps her along with Nora. Still, Dr. Barton remains troubled by his wife’s behavior following an incident including a moment where Constance poured oil around Angelica’s bed to prevent a ghost from taking Angelica. It all plays into whether everything Constance is dealing with is a product of her unhappiness or something much more as it relates to her love for Angelica and her husband’s growing estrangement.
Lichtenstein’s direction is stylish for the fact that the story is set in mid-19th Century London during the era of Queen Victoria as it is shot on location in areas in London as well as bits of New York City for the scenes set in the late 19th Century with the adult Angelica as well as areas where Montague lived in. Lichtenstein’s direction has moments that are straightforward in its compositions with elements of wide and medium shots as he does maintain this sense of beauty in the world that is Victorian London where everyone of upper and mid-upper class society wear the finest clothes. Still, Lichtenstein maintains this sense of dramatic tension that would be prevalent throughout the film as it plays into Constance’s own growing sense of madness but also this loss she would have due to the fact that she couldn’t have sex with her husband as it would hurt her drastically or kill her. Sex is a major factor in the film as Dr. Barton often tries to get some sexual pleasure but since he can’t do anything anal with her. There is a moment in the film where he tries to get her to perform oral sex but she is too distracted with what is happening with their daughter.
When the film moves into the second half where Constance meets Montague, things do loosen up a bit where Montague also gets Constance to relax as it does give the film bits of humor. Notably as it is where Montague also has Constance to think a bit more for herself instead of the need to please her husband who would continue to grow detached from her. Still, the element of horror is prevalent into what Constance sees as it relates to what Dr. Barton had shown her early in the film that adds to Constance’s mad state. Even as the film reaches its third act where Dr. Barton goes to colleagues and such to play into his own perspective unaware that he has contributed to his wife’s mental state through his own neglect. Its finale returns to the adult Angelica as she tries to get an understanding into her mother’s mental state as well as why her mother was protective of her despite the risk of her marriage. Overall, Lichtenstein crafts an eerie yet compelling film about a young woman’s mad encounter with the supernatural in her attempt to save her marriage and her daughter.
Cinematographer Dick Pope does incredible work with the film’s cinematography as its usage of oil lamps for some of the interior/exterior scenes at night as well as other low-key lighting adds to the film’s gorgeous look as well as its emphasis on heightened colors for some of the film’s daytime scenes. Editors Andrew Hafitz and Lee Percy do excellent work with the editing as it has elements of style in the jump-cuts as well as rhythmic cuts to play into the suspense and drama. Production designer Luciana Arrighi, along with set decorators Kimberly Fahey, Susan Raney, and Katie Tharp plus art directors Matteo De Cosmo and Chris Wyatt, does amazing work with the look of the home that Dr. Barton and his family live in as well as the home that Montague lived in that is a direct contrast to the spacious and refined home of the Bartons. Costume designer Rita Ryack does fantastic work with the costumes in the design of the Victorian dresses of the times that is filled with vibrant colors and textures that says a lot about Constance’s place in society but also her own unraveling as she tries to maintain the role of a wife of an important figure in the world of science.
Makeup supervisor Emma J. Slater and hair stylist Joseph Whitmeyer do wonderful work with the design of some of the hairdos that Constance has as well as the look of the older Angelica. Visual effects supervisors Theodore Maniatis, Todd Sarsfield, Vico Sharabani, and Angus Wilson do terrific work with the visual effects in the look of the parasites that Dr. Barton shows Constance early in the film as they would form as a supernatural force that only she could see though some of the effects look clunky at times. Sound editor Robert Hein does superb work with the film’s sound as it play into the atmosphere of the locations along with some sound from afar to help play into the horror elements in the film. The film’s music by Zbigniew Preisner is brilliant for its orchestral score along with elements of piano-based orchestral pieces that play into the drama as well as themes that add to the suspense and melancholia as it is a major highlight of the film.
The casting by Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Connor Inorio and Pela Kolodziej in their respective roles as the infant and two-year old Angelica, Henry Stram and Daniel Gerroll as a couple of doctors who warn both Constance and Dr. Barton about having sex as it relates to the former’s physical condition, James Norton as a colleague of Dr. Barton who suggests getting a mistress for Dr. Barton, Glynnis O’Connor as the older Constance as an ailing old woman filled with regret, Emma Caraman as the young Angelica who tries to deal with her mother’s mad state, and Charles Keating in his film performance as Dr. Miles who would meet Constance and Angelica late in the film to see if there’s anything wrong mentally with the former. Tovah Feldshun is excellent as the housemaid Nora who watches over everything as she does try to help Constance but also wanted to profit from what Montague is doing only to realize that Constance is really ill.
Ed Stoppard is brilliant as Dr. Joseph Barton as a scientist who tests on animals as he becomes sexually frustrated and emotionally-detached as he was once in love with Constance as he would use his time at work to distract himself only to find other ways to fulfill his sexual pleasures though he is confused by his wife’s mental state. Janet McTeer is great as Anne Montague as a woman who knows a lot about witchcraft and such though her intention was to scam Constance only to realize how fragile Constance is where she helps Constance loosen up but also do what she can to help Constance in her troubled mental state. Finally, there’s Jena Malone in a phenomenal performance as both the adult Angelica and the young Constance where she is a more subdued as the adult Angelica as she sports a heavier British accent. In the role of Constance, Malone adds this sense of innocence that would unravel as she becomes troubled by what is haunting her daughter but also in how it would cause her husband to be distant where Malone brings a lot of anguish to her role as well as playing someone who is a prude but is also trying to come out of that despite her mad state as it’s one of Malone’s great performances.
Angelica is a sensational film from Mitchell Lichtenstein that features great performances from Jena Malone and Janet McTeer. Along with its supporting cast, wondrous visuals, Zbigniew Preisner’s incredible music score, and its exploration of madness and sexual repression that leads to strange supernatural events. It is a film that mixes horror, suspense, and the period drama that plays into a woman coping with her love for her daughter but also her madness that would push her husband away. In the end, Angelica is a phenomenal film from Mitchell Lichtenstein.
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