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Review

One thinks of Tilda Swinton as a pale beauty —- the rarified star of art films and thoughtful, carefully-controlled characters. In Julia, Swinton portrays a desperate alcoholic floozy with such natural ease that we're left to wonder whether her on-screen cocktails actually were laced with liquor. This is the story of a kidnapping gone horribly wrong. After waking in a car with an unknown man and messing things up badly at work, Julia's (Tilda Swinton) boss/friend Mitch (Saul Rubinek) fires her and drags her to AA meetings. While she has no interest in sobriety, Julia does encounter Elena (Kate del Castillo), a mentally unbalanced mother with a plan. When Elena finds Julia out cold on the sidewalk, she rescues her, waits for her to wake, and then enlists her in a plot to kidnap Elena's son Tommy (Adian Gould) from his wealthy grandfather. After several failed rendezvous, the child is re-kidnapped by Mexican thugs. Director Erick Zonca (The Little Thief) imbues the film with an ever-growing sense of dread; combined with Swinton's powerhouse performance, this makes Julia a truly thrilling trip to the dark side of the human psyche.

 -- Scott Cranin