Una: DVD Review

Una: DVD Review

Released by Madman Home Ent

Expanded out from the 2005 stage two hander Blackbird, Una is a complex and subtle portrait that may leave an uneasy taste in your mouth after viewing.

The Una of the title is played by Rooney Mara and who starts the film heading off for places unknown after a casual toilet tryst at a club. 

Clearly in a self-destructive mood, Una's quest leads her to turn up unannounced at a warehouse, and demanding to see Ray (played by Bloodlines Ben Mendelsohn) she has on a photograph.

The two share a past and while Ray may have chosen to leave that past behind, it's clearly still propelling Una on to a more uncertain psychological future. 

With the past flitting in and out of the narrative, director Benedict Andrews proves adept at slyly swinging the pendulum throughout with neither side seeming innocent as the clinical recollections are revisited.

While Una could easily have settled for sensationalist film-making, a degree of nuance from both Mendelsohn and Rooney makes this nothing short of searing - its portrait of abuse and PTSD is as fascinating as it is appalling.