Havana Segrand is a middle aged actor using all her contacts to star in the remake of her mom’s super hit flick, amidst stiff competition from the younger crop. Havana lost her mother in a fire and that keeps wrecking her mind while she undergoes therapy under Dr. Stafford, which keeps her from flipping. Stafford has a troubled family history himself having witnessed a traumatic event involving his kids in the past. When Havana and Stafford struggle to shrug off the haunting of their past, Stafford’s outcast daughter Agatha comes back into their world and how things go crazy from then forms the core of the movie.
Language:
English
Running Time:
112 min
Rating:
R (MPAA)
Release date:
27 February 2015
Directed by:
David Cronenberg
Produced by:
Martin Katz
Michel Merkt
Said Ben Said
Written by:
Bruce Wagner
Starring:
John Cusack
Julianne Moore
Mia Wasikowska
Robert Pattinson
Music by:
Howard Shore
Shot by:
Peter Suschitzky
Editing by:
Ronald Sanders
Distributed by:
Focus World

What’s Hot

  • Julian Moore as Havana Segrand makes whirlwind transformations between a frustrated actor trying to land a role and an emotionally wrecked daughter haunted by her relationship with her mother, which makes us wonder if she has two personalities! It’s just purely the showcase of all the expertise she has accumulated in her career – a well earned Golden Globe nomination that.
  • A power-packed cast comprising of Mia Wasikowska as the eccentric Agatha, John Cusack as the manipulative Dr.Stafford and Robert Pattinson as the Agatha’s boyfriend , to name a few have been equally well defined to support the movie.
  • The movie proceeds on different fronts from the viewpoints of Havana, Stafford and Agatha with a well conceived screenplay from Bruce Wagner that interlinks in a convincing manner to present a suspenseful narration to keep the audience playing the guessing game.
  • The story has an excellent amalgamation of characters having troubled pasts which keeps interfering with their current lives as they struggle to maintain normalcy by resorting to therapy and rehab. When you think that is all it’s got, an unexpected catalyst is added in the form of a bold incest theme to improve the fortunes of the movie.

What’s Not

  • The character of Benjie(Stafford’s TV star son) is way too obnoxious even for Cronenberg’s style of storytelling. Being a pre-teen, the amount of cynicism, hate and vulgarity he emits seems farfetched from even the dark reality of Hollywood celebrity lifestyle. The family seems to acknowledge his actions, which is all the more repulsive.

Badges

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

Ever wondered what your favourite movie stars go through in order to sustain their celebrity lives? -‘Maps to the stars’ offers you a glimpse of that and much more into their crazy lives in the typically weird and unsettling David Cronenberg style that finishes in an equally psychotic fashion!