Parents' Guide to Disclaimer

Every scene is as beautiful as an oil painting in this masterful slow burn from director Alfonso Cuarón, adapted from the bestselling mystery novel of the same name by Renée Knight. Disclaimer's story unfolds in several different strands, racing backward and forward in time: We meet Catherine (played by Leila George) as a young mom with a 4-year-old son, on vacation in Italy with her new husband, Robert, when she meets the much younger Jonathan (Louis Partridge); we also meet the two decades older Catherine (Blanchett), now a successful documentarian whose current-day marriage is threatened when Stephen Brigstocke (Kline) publishes a book that spills her most shameful secrets.

The story is twisty and can be hard to follow in some moments, but both Blanchett and Kline give powerful, mesmerizing performances. The former reveals Catherine as a shaky, self-loathing mess despite her glossy exterior; the latter channels Stephen's furious rage at the woman he holds responsible for the deaths of both his son and his wife. Watching Catherine collapse while Stephen rubs his hands in absolutely delighted metaphorical glee is both gripping and piercing; it's not exactly fun, but viewers won't be able to look away. The glorious visuals make sure of that too: golden lighting and gorgeous exteriors, and Cuarón frequently bookends a scene with the old-fashioned filmmaking device known as the "iris wipe," a circle that gradually shrinks or grows to replace one scene with another. It's a curious choice that lends this story an odd gravitas, as if to remind us we're watching a fictional narrative while we're caught up in it. Yet somehow instead of triggering the viewers' suspension of disbelief, Disclaimer is singularly classy, compelling, and worth the watch.