While the malleable allegory of the film's events — a woman and her writer husband live in an Edenic country house that spirals into infernal chaos — has fueled both love - or - hate reactions and directorial marketing, I was riveted by the
heedless spectacle and
totally enveloping film technique, all anchored in Jennifer Lawrence's sometimes baffling commitment to a character driven to distraction by her husband (Javier Bardem), his mystery guests (deliciously entitled Michelle Pfeiffer, Ed Harris), and much, much more.