Émile Zola’s definitive novel Thérèse Raquin has been translated to screen and stage too many times to count. Perhaps because it’s the definitive tale of forbidden lust gone way, way wrong. Though nobody recently has done as straightforward a rendition as first time feature filmmaker Charlie Stratton attempts with In Secret. Using an overqualified cast, he attempts to breathe new life to this gritty tale of the Parisian lower class in the late 19^th century, but not even his actors can make up for what is essentially a staging of life’s worst case scenarios played out by beautiful people.

Émile Zola is considered one of the authoritative writers in the literary realm of naturalism, the focus of which is natural behavior and speech and which goes against any kind of romanticism. In Secret is certainly at times murky, even vulgar with it’s scenery of low-class life in 19^th century Paris, but it seems to be trying so hard to be “natural” that it ends up being incredibly depressing. Each scene building on the next as a study in “what else can go wrong?”

Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene, Silent House) plays Thérèse Raquin, an orphaned girl left by her father to be brought up by her aunt Madame Raquin, played by the ever-fantastic Jessica Lange. Madame Raquin lives in the French countryside with her sickly son Camille (Tom Felton of Harry Potter fame) and when they are of age, Thérèse finds herself engaged and then quickly married to her childhood friend without much say in the matter. Camille decides he wants to pursue a job in Paris and moves his family to the city where his mother opens a dress shop. Thérèse is confined to a loveless life of dull monotony until Camille brings home a friend from work that he also knew from childhood, Laurent (Inside Llewyn Davis’s Oscar Isaac).

Never was there a brooding artistic Parisian who couldn’t sweep a sexually deprived orphan off her feet. Before rhyme or reason could ever put in a word, they’ve delved into an illicit love affair and are soon plotting the only foreseeable way to be with one another: Camille’s untimely demise. Of course, as a naturalistic tale, they couldn’t possibly find happiness in their actions and the act that soon frees them to love one another starts to wilt their obsessive love.

Elizabeth Olsen is well cast, and even pulls off a convincing British accent (forgetting of course that the story takes place in Paris). Her bright eyes and rounded mouth make her almost too romantic for what Zola undoubtedly meant to be a realistic sort of woman. She is always engaging to watch, however, and her descent into love-induced madness is well performed. Naturally, there aren’t many who could outshine Jessica Lange. Her take on the selfish and pampering Madame Raquin, especially as she grieves for her perfect son and then befalls an even greater personal tragedy, is pure Oscar material and reminded me greatly of her multi-dimensional role in American Horror Story: Asylum. It seems tragic that the dark nature of In Secret means her performance will likely be overlooked.

Oscar Isaac is wasted on Laurent and Tom Felton is a little too well cast for the gaunt and putrid looking Camille. The entire cast is what will undoubtedly drive many people to the theaters to see In Secret, and they are indeed performing at their best. It’s Charlie Stratton, who both wrote and directed the film, who couldn’t take an old and joyless fiction and  try to do what Zola never seemed able to accomplish, bring a sense of relatable naturalism. Instead he plays up a gruesome reality, including some terrifying and out-of-place-feeling scenes that would have been better suited for a horror film.

Credit needing to be given where due, the costume design of the film, expertly crafted by French designer Pierre Yves Gayraud, is captivating to look at. And Uli Hanisch, the production designer, deserves accolade for capturing some definite 19^th century Parisian grit, especially involving a particularly morbid morgue and street scenes including butchers and whores.

In the end, strong performances and beautiful imagery just can’t hold together what is essentially a bleak tale of two lovers seemingly determined not to allow themselves to be happy. While scandalous in its day, Thérèse’s tale is woefully lacking in a new approach and thus in any real appeal with modern audiences.

Michael Winterbottom is a director who’s not afraid to fully commit himself to an idea that he likes. Whether he’s teaming up with actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon for three diverse but equally funny films (24 Hour Party People, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story, and The Trip) or exploring the erotic side of cinema by way of nine different songs in the appropriately titled 9 Songs, he’s a filmmaker who always seems to have the big picture in mind. His latest film, Everyday, has a similarly thought-out trick to it: it was filmed over a total of 5 years using all of the same actors. But while it’s admirable of Winterbottom to push the boundaries of conventional filmmaking with this project, it might be an example of the director becoming ensnared by his premise to the detriment of his own film.

Everyday covers a number of years in the life of a family, yet despite its expansive perspective, it doesn’t really go very far. The main thrust of action comes when the family’s matriarch (Shirley Henderson) brings her four children (played by real-life siblings Shaun, Robert, Katrina, and Stephanie Kirk) to visit their father (John Simm) in prison where he is serving a lengthy sentence for a somewhat vague crime. We witness several visits to the prison in the first half of the film, and it is interesting to see the slight variations in the family dynamics as the years go by. And by covering so much time with the same actors and using this repetition, Winterbottom seems to make some intriguing comments about how easily time can slip away if we allow ourselves to fall into routine. Many of the scenes here would not be nearly as effective if we couldn’t see that the children have visibly aged, or if he had simply recast their roles.

However, the film never fully gets past this somewhat gimmicky device. And in fact, it seems to actually impede Winterbottom from fully delving in to his younger characters; the viewer never really gets a good sense of who the female children are, in particular. There is something inherently moving in watching a child grow up and become more aware of the world around them, but a slightly meandering 90-minute movie is perhaps not the best avenue to explore these complicated dynamics.

Henderson’s character on the other hand does feel fully developed, partly thanks to the actress’ searing, rock-solid turn as a mother barely managing to hold her family together. We see the wear that time has on her face, and while I don’t think the real-life progression of time is essential to Henderson’s performance, it does enhance the experience to see her transition from the girlish young mother at the beginning of the film to the weary, fed-up voice of reason she becomes as the film goes on.

Everyday is hardly plot heavy, and while this does allow the film to meditate on its themes, it also makes it feel stagnant, even as the lives of both its characters and actors race by. Winterbottom has created a film that is startlingly honest at times, and while it may not be his best work, Everyday should stand as an interesting minor entry in his filmography.

Everyday trailer