Movie Review: Safe; 1995

            The movie Safe is not only dramatic but also an exquisite film. The main character, Carol White, played by Julianne Moore, has come down with allergic reactions to her environment. Carol meets with her doctor regularly who states she is perfectly healthy, but still Carol seems to find ways to cause herself to become sick. Her husband, Greg White, played by Xander Berkeley, does his best to take care of Carol. The movie takes a turn when she ends up at a community center where people have similar conditions to hers.  Here, Carol takes baby steps on how to cope with her illness. 

            Safe, makes people think about their own health and how being too concerned, can cause problems. When you find something that sets you off, it seems as though the whole world is ending and your immune system cannot be stopped from attacking you. In this case, Carol White finds herself allergic to her environment and it seems as if no one can help her. The only place she feels safe is at the community center where Carol moves to a more confined place, and learns how to adjust her problems and how to love herself better.

            The music in this film creates a sense of tension, intensifying what has happened to Carol. As the music becomes more riveting, Carol’s reactions appear to get more intense. The music makes this film more heart pounding to watch as we wait for something breathtaking to occur. Overall, this film keeps you on edge and makes you wonder why people want to make themselves sick. The music is a key part to this film and I think it helps the viewer to better understand Carol. 

The movie concludes on a cliffhanger where we see Carol talking into a mirror. In a sense, this scene relates to today’s lifestyle, in that we see how people are consumed with self-hatred, which causes them to be sick. The world today, is filled with self-hatred and the only way to solve this problem is to exchange self-hatred for self-loving.