Cordelia – The Emergence of a New Scream Queen

Antonia Campbell-Hughes delivers one of the most off-putting performances in recent memory in Cordelia. In almost every scene, she seems to be daring audience members to remain in their seats, as they fight against the urge to run screaming from the theatre. On some level, it’s difficult to understand why she inspires such repulsion. She portrays the titular Cordelia, an anxious young actress who is still working through trauma related to an incident that occurred on a train at some point in the last few years. Cordelia has clearly been through a lot and she never does anything that is explicitly immoral but her obsequious nature makes her seem inherently distrustful. One can’t help but be reminded of Orson Welles’s description of Woody Allen, as she seems to possess a “particular combination of arrogance and timidity” that would set anybody’s teeth on edge. Campbell-Hughes goes out of her way to turn the audience against her character and her gutsy performance keeps you mesmerized even when the film surrounding her becomes disappointingly formulaic.

On her own, Cordelia is a fascinating character to consider. She clearly owes a considerable debt to Catherine Deneuve’s Carol Ledoux but her insouciance sets her apart from Polanski’s most infamous heroine. Simply observing the manner in which she closes herself off to the advances of potential male suitors is fascinating. Unfortunately, the screenplay keeps circling back around to a plot line that never really develops into anything meaningful. Cordelia’s nervy personality is contrasted with that of her confident, prepossessed sister Caroline (Campbell-Hughes), who repeatedly urges Cordelia to get out more. When Caroline leaves town for a few days, Cordelia is left to her own devices. She strikes up a friendship with Frank (Flynn), a mysterious musician who manages to break down some of her emotional barriers. The tense, emotionally fraught relationship between Cordelia and Frank is supposed to make audiences feel uneasy but it’s difficult not to grow increasingly apathetic as the film hurtles towards a shockingly violent finale.

A big problem with Cordelia is that this thriller simply isn’t stylish enough to warrant comparisons to Repulsion or Possession. Budgetary limitations become obvious during sequences where the film seems one the verge of tipping over into surreal territory. Instead of getting to witness disturbing imagery, audiences have to make do with a couple of shots of Campbell-Hughes looking nervous as she stumbles around her living room. There’s none of the exhilarating hyper-stylization that elevates this sort of potboiler into the annals of high art. Shergold didn’t necessarily need to take a maximalist approach to bringing Cordelia’s inner turmoil to life, but he could have introduced a bit more razzle dazzle to the passages in which her character begins to disengage from reality.

Meanwhile, Natalie Holt’s minimalistic score also leaves something to be desired, as it keeps audiences waiting for her to go further during the final scene. From the very beginning, she establishes a clear sense of foreboding and gives us tantalizing glimpses of things to come. This makes it all the more upsetting when she doesn’t come through with a thrilling payoff. She effectively pays homage to old masters such as Bernard Herrmann and Miklós Rózsa but she never gets the opportunity to fully let loose. One is almost left feeling cheated when the credits begin to roll. Audiences are left waiting for the third act to come around, so all the good stuff can finally take center stage in a story that appears to be going nowhere fast.

Cordelia ends on a rather sour note as audiences are still left with a couple of mysteries to ponder and the memory of a tour de force performance. The film should launch Campbell-Hughes into the stratosphere, cementing the fact that she’s a highly capable scream queen. Her captivating performance is reason enough to watch Cordelia.

still courtesy of Screen Media Films

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Zita Short

I am passionate about screwball comedies from the 1930s and certain actresses from the Golden Age of Hollywood. I’ll aim to review new Netflix releases and write features, so expect a lot of romantic comedies and cult favourites.