Craig's Wife: A house so clean you'll want to scream

Is this worth your time?

If you like movies where the tension comes from a misplaced vase rather than a car chase, yes. This is for people who enjoy watching a character slowly dismantle their own life while everyone else just stands around looking uncomfortable. If you need explosions or a happy ending, stay far away. You will probably find this movie incredibly frustrating if you value characters who make rational decisions.

Rosalind Russell as Harriet Craig? She is absolutely relentless. She moves through that house like she is patrolling a crime scene, constantly fixing curtains and flicking dust off things. It is genuinely stressful to watch. You start to feel like if you breathed too hard near the screen, she would walk out and scold you for messing up the atmosphere.

The whole thing feels like a play trapped in a living room, which is exactly what it is. There is a moment where she is explaining the 'rules' of her home, and the way she delivers those lines—it is so cold it feels like the room temperature drops ten degrees. It is not a performance that tries to be 'likable.' She is a fortress.

I found myself staring at the background furniture more than I should have. Everything is so perfect, so arranged, it makes the human mess of the plot feel even more jagged. It reminded me a bit of the suffocating pressure found in The Hawk, though the stakes here are purely domestic and way more personal.

The way her husband just… takes it? It is pathetic, honestly. You want to reach through the screen and shake him. But then, that is the point. Harriet has built this cage, and he keeps polishing the bars because he thinks it is luxury.

• That one scene with the spilled coffee? My heart stopped.
• The lighting makes the house look beautiful and like a prison at the same time.
• I’m still not sure if she ever actually loved the guy or just the architecture.
• The ending feels like a sudden gust of wind in a room that hasn't been opened for years.

It is not a fun watch. It is a sharp watch. Sometimes you need a movie that just sits you down and makes you feel uneasy for ninety minutes. This is definitely that movie. I think I need to go vacuum my living room now. Just in case.