THE WASP Review: Chamber Thriller Gone Wild

In a nicer part of city, a woman named Heather (Naomie Harris) fights a wasp stuck at her kitchen window in her nice suburban home.

Something is bothering her, going far beyond the annoying insect, but her husband Simon (Dominic Allburn) is too busy with preparations for a business dinner to pay attention or to really care at all.

In another part of town, a woman named Carla (Natalie Dormer) fights the general way of her life, which consists of a dead-end job at the supermarket, a deadbeat husband with a gambling problem, three kids and a fourth one on the way. Carla gets an unexpected text from Heather who apparently used to be her friend in school, asking her to lunch in order to catch up.

The two meet the next day but Heather seems hesitant to reveal the real reason for this sudden meeting. When she does, it turns out she has an offer for her old friend, the kind Carla definitely should refuse but probably cannot afford to. And that’s the extent of knowledge about the plot of The Wasp that is best to have going in.

Guillem Morales’ new film, which premiered in June at the Tribeca Film Festival, is one of those rare features that exudes their theatrical origin right from the start, yet remain incredibly cinematic,  turning certain limitations of the material into advantages. The Wasp is indeed based on a play by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, which she herself adapted for the screen.

The central metaphor and the core concept is clearly telegraphed not only by the opening scenes of the movie but by its very title. Both main characters here clearly feel trapped, much like the titular insect, in one way of another: by unhappy marriages, societal predeterminations and injustices, and most of all, by the repeating cycle of trauma and violence that just seems never-ending.

This metaphor fully comes into play as soon as the heroines get settled into the main location, Heather and Simon’s seemingly perfect home. From this moment on, it’s a psychological ride that abandons the lighter tone and dark humor of some of the earlier scenes.

How tense can a conversation between two people sharing a complicated past, which is at times illustrated through flashbacks, be? Very tense. It’s safe to mention, in a non-spoiler way, that the audience is right to expect a few twists along the way and to assume that not everything is what it initially sets out to be.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the film’s director, Guillem Morales does suspense and tension so well. While The Wasp marks his English-language feature debut, Morales isn’t a stranger to the thriller genre. In his native Spain, before his move to the UK, he delivered several fascinating genre installments, such as The Uninvited Guest (2004) and Julia's Eyes (2010), which was produced by Guillermo del Toro.

It's also definitely not a surprise that a lot of weight with such a material would be carried by the cast, and it seems almost redundant to mention that yes, both Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer do a phenomenal job here. The end result of all these creative efforts is a disturbing and dramatic piece that packs a lot into an hour and a half and just tends to stick with you afterwards, just like… Well, like that unfortunate insect that always tends to get stuck in the most unfortunate spot. 

The film opens today, only in movie theaters, via Shout! Studios. Visit the official site for showtimes and locations.