Downloading Nancy is an indie thriller that is; completely disturbing, controversial, well shot and captivating film. It was nominated for Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and is definitely one of the better indie thrillers of 2009. It’s a thriller that will have you asking “why” instead of “who”.
Some films of the thriller genre, including this one, are better left going into without knowing too much of the plot. This is why I am not going to get into too many details of the important plot structure. Downloading Nancy obviously doesn’t want you to know what is going on in the beginning. It jumps right in to things without explanations, which you end up finding out as the film progresses and sometimes through flashbacks. Character’s keep alluding to “the big finish” and you the viewer are left in the dark towards the beginning as to what that is referring to.
I will vaguely give a background of the film. Because of childhood drama, Nancy (Maria Bello) has a disturbing urge for pain. She desires it even if it means death. She says at the very beginning of the movie, “Death is like sucking pure oxygen” and when asked what life is, she responds, “It’s like being trapped inside the wrong house looking for a way out.” Her husband Albert (Rufus Sewell) notices that she disappears one night and then begins the downward spiral of events.
Albert begins with the feeling of regret, it becomes evident when he is staring at refrigerator magnet words that combine to spell “You don’t know you got til its gone”, mysteriously leaving out the word “what”. Later in the film this you see that this is in fact true, he did take her for granted. Seemingly ignoring her calls for fun and sex.
He then becomes very worried when someone calls saying that she was supposed to have an appointment with them and never shows. He nearly calls 911. Then when he first finds out that his wife is leaving him, he is in denial, saying that he doesn’t believe it. Albert becomes insanely enraged when he finds out the truth.
Rufus Sewell had such a wide range of emotion, from normal to insane. If this were a more mainstream movie, I could definitely see Robert De Niro playing this role, or maybe that’s just because I think he resembles a young De Niro a little bit.
Maria Bello did an amazing job and was nominated for Best Female Lead at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards. Although I still think Gabourey Sidibe of the film Precious deserved the win, Bello puts on a stunning performance which probably would have earned her runner up.
The cinematography was noticeably well done. It had a cool bluish tint to it. The camera is almost constantly moving, gives off the feeling of voyeurism. Most of the time it is subtle movements, but on a few occasions it becomes a little distracting.
Downloading Nancy won’t be the greatest thriller you will ever see but it will certainly hold your interest. Some scenes are nearly so distributing it will be hard for some to watch. It’s a fairly modest display of a physiological thriller.
