Being in a new place isn’t easy, and it can take some time to adjust to local customs and occurrences. Moving from halfway across the world can be a shock, but part of that also comes from the way locals treat outsiders and newcomers. Steal Away sees one young woman arriving to another’s home, full of life and vibrancy, unaware of the secrets where she’s just come to holds. Set away from a distinguishable time or place, this is a haunting, hypotonic film that is defined by a foreboding beauty, masking a darkness that may eventually overcome the light within its two protagonists.
Steal Away begins with a prelude about the journey women once had to take and a tale of two princesses before opening on Cécile (Mallori Johnson) arriving at a large home where she soon meets Fanny (Angourie Rice). Cécile is not the first young woman from a faraway country that Fanny’s mother Florence (Lauren Lee Smith) has taken in, determined to help those she perceives as less fortunate as a way of giving back to the world. As Cécile develops a close romantic relationship with Rufus (Idrissa Sanogo Bamba), the son of the gardener, Fanny watches in awe, both admiring and jealous of her new housemate.
This film, from director Clement Virgo and screenwriter Tamara Faith Berger, is an interesting specimen. It’s based on the nonfiction book Steal Away Home by Karolyn Smardz Frost, which takes place in the 1800s. While the clothing and vehicles seen in this film place it much closer to the present day, it’s never precisely dated. Similarly, while Cécile confirms which African country she comes from, where this film is set remains a mystery. Fanny’s accent provides some clue that it’s likely the United States or Canada, and there are posters decrying the flow of immigrants and calling for citizens to be vigilant and report traitors, suggesting a disconcerting societal shift. The film’s summary provides only the context of “an alternate universe that echoes the Deep South.”
Not being certain of this film’s setting isn’t a detriment, but it does speak to this film’s overall nature, which tends towards the mystifying. There is something unsettling going on in this mystery place, and both Fanny and Cécile experience haunting moments and dreams that make them wonder whether they actually know what’s happening in their orbit. The way in which Fanny watches Cécile and longs for the confidence and allure she radiates is also enough to keep audiences on edge, since while there are certainly more nefarious elements at play, both manmade and potentially supernatural, Cécile is teaching Fanny much more about life and sexuality than she’s ever considered. Seeing what you don’t have can trigger an ability to do unbelievable things. Fortunately, this film takes less expected directions, though nothing is finite and there are still many questions left by its end.
Leading this captivating and unnerving film are two actresses who commit fully to their characters even as there is so much audiences don’t know and never learn about them. They portray them as who they are at this particular moment in whatever time it is, and it’s mesmerizing to watch them both. Cécile and Fanny are both young and only know what they’ve experienced or been told, and it’s fascinating to see what Johnson and Rice are able to do with that minimal information. Overall, there’s an appeal to how this film plays with what audiences don’t know and uses it to enhance its dreamlike nature, but that approach also doesn’t lead to a fully satisfying viewing experience.
Movie Rating: 6/10
