SAFE (1995)
In Todd Haynes’s horror melodrama, Julianna Moore plays a woman whose mundane and routine life is torn apart by the appearance of a mysterious illness identified as “environmental illness”, an extreme allergic reaction to the modern world. She seeks haven in an isolated camp specifically made to shelter victims of environmental illness and finds that being torn away from her previous life allows her a type of rebirth.
This brutal and sad movie portrays the world of people living empty lives, devoid of feeling, introspection, and authenticity. The protagonist’s illness seems horrifying, but it’s really the best thing to ever happen to her; it forces her to face the difficulty of escaping an empty, wasted life. The small steps this woman makes towards feeling and authenticity are heartbreaking and, in the end, it manages to be hopeful. Julianne Moore’s performance is one of the greatest. And this movie is perhaps the best example of the beautiful and short-lived inspired world of independent film that existed in the 1990’s.
