“Sharp Corner" follows a family that consists of a couple and their son who move from the city into a house near the countryside. The cost was very low compared to other options the buyers had. Unfortunately, the family found out the very first night they spent in the house. The home is located rather close, approximately a hundred meters, to a two-way road that goes through tall fields and has a sharp bend. The road also has a sign ahead warning drivers about the harsh turn. Unfortunately, the sign is fully covered by shrubs, and if the sign was not covered, there is a possibility that speeding drivers would not be able to slow down in time to avoid crashing.

The family endures severe trauma from the first crash. Then comes another. The corner seems to be a relentless trap waiting to expose the family to death. Each crash or near miss only seems to pull a family further apart, sharpening the disillusionment that transforms a house into home. Ben Foster embodies the role of Josh McCall, a father whose sole focus becomes surviving the next crash to ‘train’ himself to save anyone who might live through it. Rachel, his wife played by Cobie Smulders, pushes as long as she possibly can endure the pressure, then gives in asking to put the house up for sale and move anywhere else. The son, Max, played by William Kosovic, begins the film as a cherubic, privileged toddler with a diabolical streak who internalizes violence to the degree of staging crashes with his toys.

You might be thinking, “It sounds very thoughtful and dramatic and I’m sure it’s a good movie, but no thanks.” That’s fair. This film goes to very dark places, particularly when it zooms in on Josh and begins to metamorphose him as we witness his internal transformation, which is decidedly unsettling. The desire to attempt rescuing everyone is justifiably human and indicative of someone who no matter how many imperfections they have, would, deep down, have some redeeming qualities and could, under some circumstances, be regarded as a hero. For Josh, the primary issue is the life he attempts to construct revolves around what, in his mind, is the likelihood, or certainty, of a future crash when he begins taking CPR classes, obsessively searching for dummies, and attending the funeral for one of the victims.

"Sharp Corner" examines Josh's metamorphosis through lenses of empathy and scientific detachment. Foster's performance keeps the character believable. Most of the time, he just appears to be a man enduring something terrible. He doesn't seem to be a sociological subject or a metaphor for what is wrong with contemporary society. The film addresses many subjects, one of which is the contemplation of our mortality and the mortality of our loved ones, which is inevitable but cannot be predicted or halted.

Foster, distinguished actor of our times, is incredible in, perhaps, his most surprising performance in years. He has the perfect look for portraying overtly violent characters such as the flamboyant, vicious man in “Alpha Dog”, or the righteously aggrieved one in “Hell or High Water”, or the dutiful but wounded character from “Leave No Trace,” or even a character who, in a more self-aware universe, would not be intelligent enough to recognize or appreciate the noble instincts that guide him which are noble and unselfaware (“Galveston”). In this case, the main motivating force is to heal, not harm or kill, a reason that elevates this performance above many others.

Another noticeable difference is that, regardless of all the crime thrillers he’s done, Foster is highly believable as a guy who may never have thrown a punch in his life. Josh has a pot belly and slouches, which gives him an awkward walk. He’s going bald in the front. His voice is soft and a little whiny. His calmness comes across as judgmental. For some reason, people get the impression he is self regarding even when he is not. He is polite, but sometimes it can be perceived as mind games. And in some cases, it is.Josh is distraught over the boy’s death. Joes and Rachel host a dinner for couples from the old neighborhood. Josh gets over his social awkwardness and explains to their guests the homemade shrine located at the bend marking the site of the first crash the family witnessed. We even saw him grumbling over social media updates while he was supposed to be attending to work in his office. But Rachel gives him a talking to after the dinner. She accuses him of being overly self righteous about his JADE (justifying, attacking, defending, explaining) behavior into what should’ve been a fun evening filled with banter and laughter. She calls him “self satisfied.” Is he? Or is it simply the perception of him he gives off?

Smulders matches Foster’s exactness and focus, though she begins to recede once Josh goes manic and his behaviors heighten. In her defense, she has no way of knowing how miserable he is since he’s pretending by not showing her all his EMT training gear. Rachel adores Josh, or rather, she used to, but is beginning to wonder what living with him would be like. He is currently underperforming at work and poorly handling caring for their child. It can’t continue like this.

Is a divorce inevitable? These knowns and unknowns are all defined, or at least hinted at, but you have to pay attention to see them. Even in therapy sessions, everything is left ambiguous.

If a couple’s role-play includes a wife asking her husband to set up a projector, and turns into one of the most believable and detailed arguments you’ll ever hear, this film is for you. The exchanges are not dramatically witty or sophisticated – nor are they meant to be. It is more a case of “that is how people of this type would converse.” Most of the time, they try to remain calm, unless things get really hopeless. They want to avoid shouting. They wish for the child to feel safe and cared for. But the parents' calm tone and careful choice of words mask passive-aggressive insults which would go unnoticed outside the marital home, like when Josh picks Rachel up from work and she’s a few minutes late and he says maybe it’s time they “bite the bullet” and get a second car, and she instantly responds, “Are you saying that because I’m a few minutes late?” He insists that he isn’t, but we know he is.

“Sharp Corner” alongside its detailed portrayal of a disintegrating family, stands out for its captivating cinematography, carefully framing different depths of information in a way that enables us to choose where to focus our attention. The camera motion adds pace to the film, albeit at a slower pace, only showing meaning; Guy Godfree’s cinematography achieved this with a mid-’70s American New Wave feeling. Each shot feels as if you are experiencing the little world and breathes within its bounds. It’s rich and clear. He moves the camera for a reason, to reveal, conceal, and overwhelm us in different ways. He does not move it whimsically; the camera technique is purposeful. The sound and the geometry of the shots work so seamlessly together, accompanied with astonishingly brilliant sound design, that you eventually begin adapting to the little cues signifying danger or comfort. The balance of the cues gives you an immersive feel, so intuitive. While the vehicle approaches, you can already tell the pace it is going and if it is too quick.

Stephen McKeon’s score begins with deep melancholy, then soars into a magnificent lament. As the stakes heighten and the situation grows dire, the horns join in, amplifying the intensity. Much like the way Shore scores for David Cronenberg or Carter Burwell scores for the Coen Bros., there is a shared sensibility among them. The onscreen action could range from being laughably misguided to tragically mundane, yet the accompanying music manages to transform the sad reality into majestic irony, becoming a requiem for people whose lives have been turned upside down and broken—through their own doing, a twist of fate, or both.

Are you familiar with “Close Encounters of the Third Kind?” It’s a movie by Steven Spielberg about suburban Midwesterners dealing with alien visitations and the possibilities of miracles. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should. As strange as it sounds, “Sharp Corners” would be a perfect movie to pair with it, not because of how they are comparable to each other (even though Foster does look like Dreyfuss from some angles and there are scenes in both of them that an unhinged patriarch attempts to rationally convince his family to not drive off and leave him), but because both center around individuals who experience extraordinary serendipities repeatedly, also responding by dedicating themselves to overwhelming projects.

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