Repulsion review

 Number 473 on the top 1000 films of all time is Roman Polanski's 1965 psychological horror film 'Repulsion.'

Carol (Catherine Denueve) is a young Belgian beautician living in London with her sister Helen (Yvonne Furneaux) and Helen's husband Michael (Ian Hendry,) whom Carol hates. However, when Helen and Michael go away and leave Carol alone, she quickly spirals into insanity.

Repulsion is considered the first in an informal trilogy depicting the horrors of inner-city living along with other Polanski hits like Rosemary's Baby and Tenant. I'm not entirely sure how Repulsion could kick off such a trilogy especially since it was followed by the infinitely better Rosemary's Baby.

Much of my apathy towards the film stems from the rather tepid character of Carol who was nothing like the energetic Rosemary Woodhouse, played by Mia Farrow. Instead Carol seems to passively drift around her London flat jumping at every shadow. Even in moments where she takes agency like when she beats her sleazy landlord to death didn't seem very believable.

I understand Carol killing her would-be suitor Colin by hitting him from behind. But she kills her much bigger male landlord by slashing him to death with a straight razor. Surely, he would have been strong enough to fight her off. Carol's insipid nature also led to a rather insipid performance from the usually charismatic and empathetic Catherine Deneuve. Very much like Carol, she seemed to be going about the film in a daze.

The limited setting didn't help things either, very much making Repulsion a victim of its own success. Despite Rosemary's Baby having a similar limited apartment setting, it had so much more drama and conflict than Repulsion. Perhaps that was down to Carol being an unreliable narrator due to her declining mental health. Maybe she's hallucinating everything she saw. Maybe not. I don't know either way. And honestly? I didn't care.

And that very much sums up my reaction to Repulsion. I wasn't repulsed. Just apathetic.