The much-anticipated pairing of two of Ireland's most celebrated actors (combined ages just 56) has arrived, with Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal unnaturally absent from the pre-release fanfare due to the ongoing Hollywood strike. Instead, the work has to do all the talking - and Foe sees Ronan and Mescal add two more excellent performances to their respective CVs. This psychological sci-fi isn't a classic, but you can't fault either of them as married couple from the future Henrietta and Junior.
They live on an isolated Midwest homestead in 2065, a time when fresh water and habitable land have become "the most precious commodities". Late one night, a smiling salesman, Terrance (Aaron Pierre, also in top form), arrives at their door, offering "a chance to be a better version of yourself". Sure enough, there's a catch.
If you remember the classic TV series The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, Foe plays like a feature-length episode of both, an exploration of what it means to be human, set in the middle of nowhere. It's based on the 2018 novel of the same name by author Iain Reid, who has teamed up with director Garth Davis (Lion, Mary Magdalene) to bring the story to the screen. There's enough here to make you want to read the book.
Where Foe falls down is in its pacing and some missed opportunities to wring more tension from the Ronan-Mescal-Pierre triangle. This is one of those slow-burners that you feel could have been wrapped up in 90 minutes, with more bite and less brooding en route to the ending. That said, the finale is worthy of the kind of twists that were The Twilight Zone's and The Outer Limits' stock-in-trade.
With Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon arriving at exactly the same time, Foe has its work cut out to make an impact. Indeed, the order of preference is already determined: one for a night out now, one for a rainy one in down the line. Here's hoping the future will also see Ronan and Mescal's names on the same call sheet again.
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