There is something wrong with Carol White, but nobody knows quite what it is. Carol is a typical suburban housewife whose life abruptly changes as she progressively shows more and more signs of illness. As she seeks help in various corners her questions remain unanswered, nobody can diagnose her unwellness or denies there is even something wrong to begin with. Carol’s quest leads her more and more off the beaten path as we slowly enter an often unseen world of the undiagnosed diseased, who all seek answers and understanding. 

Carol White’s deterioration has been masterfully portrayed by Julianne Moore with pitch perfect direction by Todd Haynes. A successful and longstanding collaboration; Safe marks their first out of five collaborations, other notable admissions being 2002’s Far From Heaven and more recently, 2023’s arthouse-hit May December. 

Although at face value Safe is a fairly straight forward arthouse drama, like May December, its dark undertones are constantly palpable. Its modus operandi is psychological horror yet it serves as a massive allegory for the AIDS epidemic, as deterioration and a lack of understanding from peers are common themes. Haynes mentioned that in research he was specifically interested in the work of Louise Hay, whose books claimed that self-love would heal illness. Safe is about attempting to find healing through any means possible yet more so about finding community and mutual understanding. A rough watch showing some of society’s near-forgotten victims. -Ruben

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