Plush (3½ Stars)

"Pain, pleasure, light, darkness. In order to create you have to embrace the dark side".

I discovered this film by accident a few weeks ago. I bought it on Blu-ray just before my holiday, but didn't have time to watch it. I was curious why I missed it when it was released in 2013. It's the sort of film that I would rush to see. An erotic thriller set in the world of rock music? Fascinating! Then I realised that it was released straight to video. That's strange. Doesn't Emily Browning's name have any pulling power at the box office?

Plush is a soft rock band based around the brother and sister Jack and Hayley. She writes the lyrics, he writes the music and plays lead guitar. After two albums they're at the peak of their career. All their concerts sell out. Then things slow down. Hayley gets married to a successful author of murder mysteries. She has twin sons. This breaks up the close bond between her and Jack. There's no time to write new songs, although they still go on tour with the band.

Then catastrophe strikes. Jack dies of a drug overdose. But as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. The tragedy inspires Hayley to write more songs than ever before, most of them about her brother. She finds a new guitarist called Enzo playing in a bar. Not only is he talented, he looks remarkably similar to Jack, so he's an obvious replacement.

While on tour Hayley sleeps with Enzo. It's nothing serious, it's just to get comfort for bad reviews in the music press. When she returns home to her family she wants to be left alone, but Enzo won't let go. She discovers that it was no coincidence that she met him in a bar, he's been stalking her for years, and now she can't get him out of her life.

So much of the film takes place in the midst of glamour and glitter that we hardly notice the terror that is simmering in the background. There's also a stark contrast between Hayley's family life and her image on stage. Most people see her as a rock icon, but she has a quiet family life which she tries to keep separate. The band members and her manager visit her, but they appear as friends, not professionally.

As usual, Emily Browning has a constantly sad face. I don't think she's ever learnt how to smile, but it doesn't seem to hamper her film career. That's better than being an actor who doesn't know how to stop smiling. Especially in this film her face is suitable for portraying a damsel in distress, whether her hair is dyed black or blonde.

It's not a perfect film. I regret that the other band members, apart from Hayley and Enzo, aren't fleshed out. We just see them playing on stage, and they're hardly introduced. If I understand correctly they aren't actors, they're musicians hired to play in the film, so it's understandable they weren't given any lines. That's still regrettable. I also found Hayley's husband Carter a bland, lifeless character. A better actor should have been found to play such an important character in the plot.

As Emily Browning's fans already know, she's a talented singer, so she was able to perform the songs herself. I feel tempted to buy the soundtrack album.

	Order from Amazon.com
	Order from Amazon.de