Savage Grace
Savage Grace is an uncomfortable biopic starting in 1946 and spanning the next 28 years in the social stratosphere surrounding the lives of the Baekeland family, heirs to the Bakelite plastics fortune. 1946 is the year that Tony is born to Brooks (Stephen Dillane) and his trophy wife Barbara Daly (an outstanding Julianne Moore). In later life Tony is played with detached confusion by Eddie Redmayne who narrates throughout. Barbara is a former actress who never had to endure the drama wrought by the power of old money. As a nouveau socialite she adapts well to the idle rich lifestyle but an idle mind as they say is the devils playground. An escalating distance between Barbara and Brooks leaves her too much time to dote on Tony who is already predisposed to a troubled personality. Relationships are pervasive and perverse as Barbara becomes more and more reliant on Tony until a day in 1972 which ultimately lead to a savagely graceful end for mother and son.