Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW

Chloe

also known as “Chloe—Tra seduzione e inganno,” “Hloi,” “Ypopsia,” “Хлоя”
MPA Rating: R-Rating (MPA) for strong sexual content including graphic dialogue, nudity and language.

Reviewed by: Cornelius Christian
CONTRIBUTOR—first time reviewer

Moral Rating: Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults
Genre: Thriller Drama Remake
Length: 1 hr. 36 min.
Year of Release: 2009
USA Release: February 11, 2009 (festival)
March 26, 2010 (wide)
DVD: July 13, 2010
Copyright, Sony Pictures Classicsclick photos to ENLARGE Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics Copyright, Sony Pictures Classics
Relevant Issues
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Prostitution

Lust

Lascivious

Cheating on wife

Adultery in the Bible

Lying

Truth

Sin

Fall of human race to sin

Should I save sex for marriage? Answer

How can I deal with temptations? Answer

What are the consequences of sexual immorality? Answer

TRUE LOVE—What is true love and how do you know when you have found it? Answer

Lesbian sex

GAY—What’s wrong with being gay? Answer
Homosexual behavior versus the Bible: Are people born gay? Does homosexuality harm anyone? Is it anyone’s business? Are homosexual and heterosexual relationships equally valid?

What about gays needs to change? Answer
It may not be what you think.

Read stories about those who have struggled with homosexuality

Morality

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How do I know what is right from wrong? Answer

How can I decide whether a particular activity—such as smoking, gambling, etc.—is wrong? Answer

Movie industry’s values and beliefs

What do Hollywood celebrities believe about spiritual issues? Find out

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Goodness

Goodness

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Women in the Bible

Biblical women with admirable character, include: Mrs. Noah, Mary (mother of Jesus), Esther, Deborah, and Milcah, daugher of Zelophehad.

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Are you going to Heaven?
Are you going to Heaven? Are you SURE you know the answer this extremely important question? Or have you made some common wrong assumptions? Find out now!

Are you good enough to get to Heaven? Answer

How good is good enough? Answer

Will all mankind eventually be saved? Answer

Nudity

Why are humans supposed to wear clothes? Answer

Featuring Julianne MooreCatherine Stewart
Liam NeesonDavid Stewart
Amanda SeyfriedChloe
Nina DobrevAnna
Max Thieriot … Michael Stewart
R.H. Thomson … Frank
See all »
Director Atom Egoyan
Atom Egoyan—“Ararat
Producer Studio Canal, The Montecito Picture Company, Ali Bell, Jeffrey Clifford, See all »
Distributor
Distributor: Sony Pictures. Trademark logo.
Sony Pictures Classics
, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment

a remake of the French motion picture “Nathalie…” by writer/director Anne Fontaine (2003)

“If the one you love was lying to you, how far would you go to find out the truth?”

Man without God has no chance at all. “Chloe” wonderfully constructs a materialist, sexually-charged and empty world, whose inhabitants lack the moral compass that can only be derived from the Holy Spirit. The film can best be described, in the words of one critic, as “artful trash.”

Are we living in a moral Stone Age? Answer

Director Atom Egoyan introduces us to Toronto gynecologist Catherine Stewart (Julianne Moore) whose husband David (Liam Neeson) is a music professor and opera expert. David is a flirtatious chap, conversing easily with attractive young women. Catherine’s suspicions are thus aroused when her husband misses his own birthday party to socialize with his students—and then lies to his wife about it. She rightfully suspects him of cheating on her.

Catherine hires Chloe (Amanda Seyfried), a young prostitute, to try to seduce her husband. Chloe relates to her client the adultery committed with David in rather explicit terms, and Catherine buys it. Yet, as the plot thickens, we realize Chloe’s true intentions. The film reaches its dark and shocking conclusion with haste and anguish.

The movie exposes the futility of life without spiritual meaning. Catherine and David appear superficially to have a happy and stable marriage, yet the foundations of that marriage are crumbling at the surface. They live in the kind of home most people could only dream of owning, yet their lives are meaningless. Everything from the austere camerawork to the chilling soundtrack conveys this sense of loneliness to the audience.

Yet, that is as deep as “Chloe” probes. It lacks character development, and the character of Chloe herself remains an enigma, even after the denouement. Perhaps that is what the filmmakers wanted, yet it is not a satisfying construction. We yearn for more information about Chloe: who is she, where did she come from, and why did she do what she did?

Perhaps this is due in part to the unfortunate death of Liam Neeson’s wife Natasha Richardson during filming. The screenwriters rewrote the script after Richardson’s death, and Neeson completed his part in just two days after returning. I feel this would have been a more fulfilling movie otherwise, and perhaps we would have been more exposed to Chloe’s psyche.

Not that exposure is a problem per se. “Chloe” contains explicit sexual language as Chloe describes viscerally her adulterous encounters with Catherine’s husband. There are two sex scenes, one of which is lesbian in nature. There is, also, an unnecessary scene of Moore’s character nude in the shower; the camera pans down to her breasts, and then pans up again, during the scene.

I cannot recommend “Chloe” to Christians, or anyone for that matter—there is nothing to be gained, after all, from trash, no matter how artfully it is portrayed.

Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Extreme

Sex, Love & Relationships Learn how to make your love the best it can be. Discover biblical answers to questions about sex, marriage, sexual addictions, and more.

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive

none

Negative
Negative—I am awfully sorry I saw this movie. I went only because the actors usually do such good work, and there were no Christian reviews when it was in my local theater. Your reviewer did justice to this movie, calling it trash that no one should see. I wanted to leave before the end—the immorality was quite unbearable—but stayed to see the miserable end.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 3½
Halyna Barannik, age 64 (USA)
Negative—Two quality actors Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson post muddling performances in the movie “Chloe,” due to a rather weak and confused plot, which fizzles out towards the middle of the film, and gets even worse towards the end ***SPOILER*** with Chloe falling out of a window to put the film out of its misery, ***END SPOILER*** thus giving more of a TV drama than movie quality to this show.

Sexual references and sex scenes are rather banal, and lack conviction, due to a lack of depth of characters—a bit of a potboiler this movie. Pretty cinematography, and pleasant soundtrack rather lull the viewer to sleep than challenge any serious moral compass, or critical mind. I’m not too offended by this movie—it’s a little lightweight to be too worried about. I’m more offended by violence in movies more than anything else, and this film doesn’t have much of that, so I’d say, give this movie a miss and find something of more substance, not simply low grade entertainment such as “Chloe.”
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2
Tim, age 47 (Australia)
Comments from non-viewers
Negative—Do not see this film. It is full of lust, adultery, sex, and bisexuality. This is the devil’s work; so, please, do not watch this film.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Extremely Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 2
Anna, age 18 (USA)