Nicole Kidman and Mia Wasikowska in Stoker

Nicole and Mia are the in the headline for eye-grabs. I was going to begin this intro by joking” “with Matthew Goode as Uncle Charlie” — but then I see that’s no joke. The nod to Shadow of a Doubt is none too subtle. I tingle to think what Hitchcock would have been to do if he never had to worry about mid-century American Codes of Morality.

After India’s (Mia Wasikowska’s) father dies in an auto accident, her Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode), who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her emotionally unstable mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman). Soon after his arrival, she comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives, but instead of feeling outrage or horror, this friendless girl becomes increasingly infatuated with him.