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The marriage of Rory and Allison ( Jude Law and Carrie Coon ) was already frayed.

But the spouses were so comfortable with the familys routines, and so immersed in their own pursuits (hes an investment banker, she raises horses and teaches riding), that the warning signs didnt register.

Their relocation to England, where Rory grew up, is a black light pointed at a crime scene: its impossible not to see everything thats gone wrong.

The eye-rolling teenage disaffection of their elder daughter, Sam ( Oona Roche ), a girl fathered by Allisons first husband, becomes overt once the move to England is complete, and slowly turns into blatant cynicism, hostility, and rebellion.

Roches narrow-eyed stare whenever her parents have a go at special pleading is one of the films most devastating recurring images: her face is judgment.

Rory and Allisons youngest, the sweet and sensitive Ben ( Charlie Shotwell ), withdraws into himself, and you may start to fear for his physical safety (especially if youve seen Ordinary People; the actor has a young Timothy Hutton vibe).

Writerdirector Sean Durkin ( Martha Marcy May Marlene ) has delivered the cinematic equivalent of those substantial, long-yet-not-too-long short stories that says everything about its subject without actually saying everything; or, perhaps conversely, a poem or song that takes you through stagesaspects of a magnetic but destructive relationship (like Stephen Sondheims Sorry Grateful from Company, or Bob Dylans Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts from Blood on the Tracks ).

Durkins script and direction are as economical and exact as they are compassionate and merciless, feeling for these characters without pandering to the audience by constantly proclaiming their lovability.

The cinematography (by Mtys Erdly ), editing (by Matthew Hannam ) and score (by Arcade Fires Richard Reed Parry) are all on the same page, it seems.

Theres nothing fussy about any creative choice.

As devastating as The Nest often is, the sheer beauty of individual moments is still elating.

And that beauty is encapsulated in the simplicity and rightness of what each moment choose to focus on, whether its the sounds of Rorys anxious breathing and his dress shoes crump-crump ing on a gravel road as he walks home in silhouette at dawn after staying out in the city all night; or the creeping zoom shots that make it seem as if an unseen, icy intelligence is surveilling the family; or the wide shot of the drunk, rebellious Allison dancing alone among strangers in a nightclub; or the long shot of Ben hiding in a cluttered room to escape his sisters unauthorized, decadent party; or anything involving Allison and her beloved horses.

The character feels like the sum total of every major role hes played till now, from the Gatsby-like golden boy in the The Talented Mr.

Ripley to the title character in the remake of Alfie to Pope Pius XIII on HBOs The Young Pope (the ultimate salesman).

Theres a touch of Mad Men hero Don Draper in here as well: Rory grew up working class to poor, and is great at using his looks and charisma to sell things; but he sucks at details, and hes so obsessed with appearing prosperous that he neglects the mathematical facts of what things cost, and pulls his wife and kids into ill-advised gambles.

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Burt Lancaster fans will appreciate the projects spiritual kinship with Lancasters late cult classic The Swimmer not just because of the Mad Men connection (that series writers often turned to John Cheevers fiction for inspiration), but because of the scripts keen balance of direct factual observation (here is what the characters did, action by action, line by line) and plausibly-deniable allusions to mythology, legend, and scripture (you think about what things mean, in a larger sense, even though the filmstory never footnotes things for you).

Laws performance is Lancaster-ish, or Swimmer adjacent, as well, in that its animated not just by a set of choices, but a philosophy, a vision of lifeand perhaps also a self-inventory that connected the character of Rory to aspects of himself, as flattering or unflattering as the resulting realizations must have been.

Its the more altogether impressive performance because shes comparatively new to us (her breakthroughs were on HBOs The Leftovers and the third season of FXs Fargo ).

As Allison, she gives as performance as grounded, nervy, vulnerable, and technically flawless as any weve seen from more established actresses, and in a different mode from the roles that put her on critics and viewers radar.

Rory has cajoled and compelled Allison to accompany him as he and a coworker, Steve (a sturdy and affecting supporting performance by Adeel Akhtar ), to help them win over clients who could bring a lot of money into their company.

Rory, whos wracked by financial instability and marital desperation at that point, tries way too hard, essentially giving a bad performance as Rory.

He presents himself as a man of culture and taste who appreciates the finer things, but comes off as a yob cosplaying a sophisticate.

Allison, whos had enough of his delusions, cant play along anymore, and lets her seething resentment of Rory escape in biting asides, like steam puffs from a kettle thats about to shriek.

Its not just the characters closed-off intensity or nervous cigarette smoking or feathery blond hair that puts the comparison across.

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