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In the Bedroom: Imprint Collection #391
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - Australia - Via Vision Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (7th June 2025). |
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The Film
 Todd Field’s "In the Bedroom" is a devastatingly quiet, emotionally suffocating exploration of grief, class tension, and the invisible fragility of domestic life. Adapted from Andre Dubus’s short story “Killings,” the film trades in overt melodrama for controlled, precise storytelling that allows its emotional weight to accumulate gradually — until it becomes almost unbearable. Set in a coastal Maine town, the narrative orbits around the Fowler family: Matt (Tom Wilkinson), a reserved doctor; Ruth (Sissy Spacek), a choral music teacher with a stern streak; and their son Frank (Nick Stahl), a college-bound young man involved with an older woman, Natalie (Marisa Tomei). Frank’s relationship — complicated by Natalie’s abusive estranged husband — becomes the catalyst for a chain of events that dismantles the seemingly serene Fowler household. Field, in his feature directorial debut (after having made several shorts and an episode of a TV show), displays an assured restraint uncommon for first-time filmmakers. His camera lingers without intruding, often using silence as punctuation. Rather than sensationalizing the tragedy that strikes, Field focuses on the aftermath — the quiet devastation, the unsaid words, the widening emotional chasms between people who once seemed whole. The film’s title refers both to the physical space of intimacy and the unspoken psychological terrain that people inhabit when mourning privately. Tom Wilkinson delivers one of his finest performances, portraying Matt as a man caught between passivity and rage. His final breakdown is agonizingly real, made more powerful by his prior stoicism. Sissy Spacek is equally remarkable, crafting a character who channels her grief into cold precision. Their dynamic, especially in the film’s pivotal dinner scene, is chilling and unforgettable. Both actors would be nominated for an Oscar as leads, Marisa Tomei’s performance, too, is layered and vulnerable — a far cry from the roles she had been typecast in before this, and a key reason she earned an Oscar win for her role. Perhaps what makes "In the Bedroom" so haunting is how acutely it captures the banality of grief — how life continues in the shadow of trauma. Field doesn’t moralize or offer catharsis. He leaves viewers with the hollow ache of lives derailed by injustice and the impossibility of truly mending what has been broken. It is, in many ways, an anti-revenge film. Justice is not glorified but dissected, revealing the emptiness behind the act and the futility of retribution when what one truly wants — a return to innocence — can never be recovered. In its quiet intensity, "In the Bedroom" stands as one of the most emotionally intelligent American dramas of the 21st century — an unflinching portrait of sorrow and survival rendered with unnerving realism.
Video
Presented in widescreen 2.39:1 ratio and mastered in HD 1080p 24/fps using AVC MPEG-4 compression. Upon viewing this looks to me as the now 24 year old 2K transfer that's been ported for this HD release. Likely licensed for this release. While it's nice to finally have this film in an HD format, it would have been beneficial to produce a new scan, yet here we are stuck with a dated transfer and sadly the only version currently available on Blu-ray at the time of writing this review. That being said, the image is decent enough, detail is fine, blacks look good for the most part, skin tones appear natural, and there's a fine layer of grain.
Audio
Two audio tracks are included in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mixed at 48kHz 24-bit and an English LPCM 2.0 stereo option. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its 5.1 track, dialogue is clean and crisp, there are subtle instances of surround activity, but the film is fairly low-key in terms of sound mix. It's a perfectly serviceable track and that's about it. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired.
Extras
Imprint has released this film with three new extras produced for this edition, they are: "Paralyzing Landscapes" 2025 video essay by filmmaker Carl Elsaesser (12:42) is a short program that takes a closer look at the film and its themes. "Bedroom Problems: Authors and Adaptation" 2025 video essay by film programmer Alex Gootter (16:57) takes a closer look at the short story and adapting it into a feature. "Defending In the Bedroom" 2025 interview with actress Karen Allen (14:22), Allen discusses the themes and characters.
Packaging
Packaged in a keep case housed in a cardboard slip-case and is limited to 1500 copies globally.
Overall
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