Repulsion
Director: Roman Polanski
Actors: Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser
PlotIn London, a young Belgian woman works as a manicurist at a beauty salon. She lives in a small apartment with her older sister, leading a quiet and reserved life that sharply contrasts with her sister's outgoing personality and active social life. Her discomfort with her surroundings and interactions, especially those involving men, is palpable. The young woman's mental state begins to deteriorate following her sister's departure on a holiday with her boyfriend, leaving her alone in the apartment. Isolated and increasingly detached from reality, her fears and repulsions towards the opposite sex manifest through vivid and terrifying hallucinations, progressively blurring the lines between her delusions and reality.
Her days become a series of unsettling encounters and experiences, both real and imagined, that feed into her paranoia and fear of sexual intimacy. The apartment, once a shared and somewhat safe space, transforms into a claustrophobic trap, filled with imagined threats lurking in every corner. Without the grounding presence of her sister, her psychological state spirals out of control, leading to a complete breakdown. Her struggle is depicted with a chilling intensity, offering a stark look into the mind of someone battling severe mental illness and the terrifying grip it can have on one's perception of reality and oneself.
Writers: Roman Polanski, Gérard Brach, David Stone
Release Date: 03 Oct 1965
Runtime: 105 min
Rating: Not Rated
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Home Video Reviews
Criterion's 'Repulsion' remaster impresses, a must-have with stellar extras. Highly recommended.
Read our review of Repulsion Blu-ray to find out more