As an immigrant homemaker whose domestic perfectionism masks a secret, Watts' taut performance gives Ben Shirinian's debut feature tension and purpose.
By Guy Lodge
Plus IconGuy Lodge
Film Critic
@guylodge See All
Courtesy Image Long before the relevant authorities do, you’ll figure out the secret that immigrant homemaker Hermine Ryan (née Braunsteiner) holds close to her chest in “The Housewife” — a giveaway that may be the fault of some heavy-handed direction and scripting, but speaks to the detail and integrity of Naomi Watts‘ lead performance, which often seems a step ahead of the film around her. A true story of a Nazi-hunting case in mid-1960s New York City, Ben Shirinian‘s debut feature is most absorbing as a character study of a woman lying to herself, at least as much as she’s lying to everyone else. It’s the procedural thriller around her, probing at that deception, that feels undercooked, with neither Tye Sheridan’s investigating journalist nor Michael Imperioli’s immigration officer much of a foil for Watts’ more layered protagonist.
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