''Chloe'' is a 2009

erotic thriller The erotic thriller is a film subgenre defined as a thriller with a thematic basis in illicit romance or sexual fantasy. Though exact definitions of the erotic thriller can vary, it is generally agreed "bodily danger and pleasure must remain i ...

film directed by

Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan (; ; born July 19, 1960) is an Armenian Canadians, Armenian-Canadian filmmaker. One of the most preeminent directors of the Toronto New Wave, he emerged during the 1980s and made his career breakthrough with ''Exotica (film), Exotica ...

, a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

of the 2003 French film '' Nathalie...''. It stars

Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress and children's author. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent ...

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...

, and Amanda Seyfried in the title role. Its screenplay was written by Erin Cressida Wilson, based on the earlier French film, written by

Anne Fontaine Anne Fontaine (born Anne-Fontaine Sibertin-Blanc; 15 July 1959) is a Luxembourgish film director, screenwriter, and former actress. She lives and works in France. Life and career Born Anne-Fontaine Sibertin-Blanc in Luxembourg, sister of actor ...

. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film was a commercial success and it grossed more at the worldwide box office than any of Egoyan's previous films.

Plot

Catherine is a

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

, her husband David is a

college professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

, and they have a teenage son, Michael. Catherine suspects David of having an

affair An affair is a relationship typically between two people, one or both of whom are either married or in a long-term Monogamy, monogamous or emotionally-exclusive relationship with someone else. The affair can be solely sexual, solely physical or ...

after she sees a cell-phone picture of him with a female student. At a restaurant, Catherine encounters a young woman named Chloe and realizes she is a

call girl A call girl or female escort is a prostitute who (unlike a street prostitution, street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by ...

. One day, she also notices Chloe from her office window, entering an upscale bar, and surmises that they work in the same neighborhood and Chloe goes there to meet clients. Catherine goes there to meet Chloe and tells her that she wants to hire her to test David's loyalty. Chloe reports back that David kissed her, saddening Catherine. She asks that Chloe show her the results of her tests for sexually transmitted diseases. Chloe brings the test results to Catherine's office, where she meets Michael and flirts with him. Catherine and Chloe meet multiple times, and Chloe describes in explicit detail her sexual encounters with David, which arouses Catherine. During a meeting at a hotel where Chloe says she had a tryst with David, Chloe kisses Catherine. Catherine, surprised by this, abruptly leaves. Later, she is taken aback by David's awareness of the scent of her lotion; it is the same lotion that Chloe wears. Upset by this, Catherine leaves and meets with Chloe again at a hotel, where she asks how David touches her. Realising that she is heartbroken, Chloe seduces Catherine. After having amazing sex with Chloe, Catherine gets home very late, leading David to ask if she has been unfaithful. Catherine tells him he has been unfaithful as well, and the two argue. Chloe confronts Catherine and tells her what they shared together is real, but Catherine insists their relationship was a business transaction and asks her to please leave. She calls off their relationship, but when Chloe mentions that David called Chloe again, Catherine decides to settle this once and for all: she calls Chloe to meet at a coffee house, where she also calls David. David arrives first and she angrily demands that he admit he is having an affair. Chloe walks in, and it is clear that David does not recognize her. Chloe quickly leaves without speaking to either of them and Catherine realizes that Chloe made up all the stories of her encounters with David. David admits that he has flirted and been tempted but has never been unfaithful to her. Upset, Catherine reveals everything about Chloe and that they slept together. She apologizes, saying that she felt she had become invisible to David as she aged, while David became more attractive to her. David comforts and kisses her, and the couple reconciles. Chloe goes to Catherine's house and has sex with Michael in Catherine's bed. Catherine arrives home, and Chloe tells Catherine that she is in love with her and that she only had sex with Michael because Michael reminds her of Catherine. She threatens to hurt Catherine, requesting a kiss, and Catherine complies. Michael sees, startling Catherine and causing her to push Chloe into the bedroom window. Chloe grabs hold of the frame, but intentionally lets go and falls to her death. Sometime later, at Michael's graduation party, Catherine is seen wearing Chloe's hairpin; the family is reconciled.

Cast

as Dr. Catherine Stewart, a gynecologist, David's wife, and Chloe's love interest *

as David Stewart, a college professor and Catherine's husband * Amanda Seyfried as Chloe Sweeney, a call girl who Catherine hires to expose David but instead falls in love with Catherine * Max Thieriot as Michael Stewart, Catherine and David's son * R. H. Thomson as Frank *

Nina Dobrev Nikolina Kamenova Dobreva (; born January 9, 1989), known professionally as Nina Dobrev ( ), is a Canadian actress. She is known for portraying Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce in The CW's supernatural drama series ''The Vampire Diaries'' (20 ...

as Anna * Meghan Heffern as Miranda * Natalie Lisinska as Eliza * Laura de Carteret as Alicia * Mishu Vellani as Julie

Production

''Chloe'' was the first film produced by the director

that was not written by him. The film, shot in only 35 days, was financed solely in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and was shot in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

, Canada. Some local restaurants and scenic spots appear in the film under actual names, such as

Allan Gardens Allan Gardens is a Conservatory (greenhouse), conservatory and urban park located in the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The property includes a playground, off-leash dog park, and a conservatory with six gr ...

, Cafe Diplomatico,

The Rivoli The Rivoli is a bar, restaurant and performance space, established in 1982, on Queen Street West in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The club originally earned a reputation as one of Canada's hippest music clubs, and many major Canadian comedy and musi ...

, the Windsor Arms Hotel, the Royal York Hotel, the

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

, The Royal Conservatory of Music, the

CN Tower The CN Tower () is a communications and observation tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 1976, it is located in downtown Toronto, built on the former Railway Lands. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway co ...

, the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; ) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street, Dundas Street West in the Grange Park (neighbourhood), Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, the museum complex takes up of phys ...

and the Ontario College of Art. Producer

Jason Reitman Jason R. Reitman (; born October 19, 1977) is a Canadian–American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the films ''Thank You for Smoking'' (2005), ''Juno (film), Juno'' (2007), ''Up in the Air (2009 film), Up in the Air'' (2009), ''Young ...

helped persuade Amanda Seyfried to star in this film. Seyfried accepted the role of Chloe after a friend of hers withdrew from consideration due to discomfort with the nudity. Julianne Moore described Seyfried as a "very dependable" acting partner and claimed that they were largely comfortable with the intimacy in the film. In describing her view of Catherine's relationship with Chloe, Moore noted "an emotional quality to their intimacy that has to do with their conversation and their basic receptivity to one another. Now what they turn into personally obviously is very different. They are having completely subjective experiences, but that doesn't mean hey'renot incredibly receptive to one another and it clearly creates something in-between them. And that's what love and sex and intimacy and all that is. Someone who is listening to you, hearing you, there for you, that's the person you end up having a relationship with, sexual or just emotional or whatever. I don't know if that has to do with gender necessarily".

's wife,

Natasha Richardson Natasha Jane Richardson (11 May 1963 – 18 March 2009) was a British actress. A part of the Redgrave family, Richardson was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson and the granddaughter of Michael Redgr ...

, had a skiing accident during filming. Neeson decided to leave the set to take care of his wife, who died from her injury a few days later. The filmmakers re-arranged the shooting schedule accordingly for Neeson's absence. Just a few days after his wife's death, Neeson returned to the set and filmed the remainder of his scenes in two days. Canadian

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band Raised by Swans has two songs featured in the movie and the band is mentioned several times by Chloe.

, the writer/director of '' Nathalie...,'' said that she was interested in Egoyan's take on it. Fontaine also said that she was not happy with ''Nathalie...'' because the two lead actresses of the film objected to her original intention for a

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

relationship to develop between their characters.

studied at the University of Toronto, and Joe Medjuck, one of the film's producers, was a teacher of Egoyan at the University of Toronto.

Behind the scenes

Creative process

After determining the plan for the remake of the film '' Nathalie...'', the investor

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., and Canal+ Production and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film & television production and distribution company which is a ...

believed that it was necessary to find a reliable screenwriter to write a script for the film because it tells a relatively complicated family and emotional story. Erin Cressida Wilson was chosen, in part because of her experience writing erotic films such as ''

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

'' (2002). This script took Wilson a lot of time and energy to create, and many times she couldn't figure out what real life was and what was the story in the script. Wilson found it easier to write for Chloe than for Catherine, later saying, "I related to Chloe, the young woman who loved to seduce people".

Cinematography

''Chloes director Egoyan insisted on using 35 mm film to shoot the film. This is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, but Egoyan enjoys it. The cinematographer Paul Sarossy thinks filming this film is symbolic. In this

digital age The Information Age is a History by period, historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during the Industrial Revolution, to an economy centered on info ...

, choosing to use

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

to shoot a movie is more of a feeling of escape from

digital electronics Digital electronics is a field of electronics involving the study of digital signals and the engineering of devices that use or produce them. It deals with the relationship between Binary number, binary inputs and outputs by passing electrical s ...

. Although the film eventually uses some

digital technology Digital technology may refer to: * Application of digital electronics * Any significant piece of knowledge from information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (IC ...

, it is not a digitally produced film.

Costume design

The film also took great pains in the art design and

costume design Costume design is the process of selecting or creating clothing for a performers. A costume may be designed from scratch or may be designed by combining existing garments. "Costume" may also refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a ...

. In the movie, mirrors and glass were used as props for reflection and refraction. The costume design of the film also pays attention to the concept of mirroring. In order to complement the artwork, costume designer Debra Hanson specifically used a layered mirror effect on the costume design. Those repeated laces, structures and decorations are also mirrored images. The effect is the same as showing the heart of a character. In addition, the relationship between clothing and the external environment has also been deliberately taken care of. In the film, Chloe's scene in the greenhouse was decorated with a lot of leaves and patterns on the clothes she wore, which could reflect some of her inner unrest. Similarly, Catherine's clothes are in part echoed by Chloe's clothing, and their relationship in the film is complex and subtle.

Financing and distribution

fully financed ''Chloe'' and was able to fully recoup the film's budget via international

pre-sales Presales is a process or a set of activities/sales normally carried out before a customer is acquired, though sometimes presales also extends into the period the product or service is delivered to the customer. There are many job titles associ ...

. In 2009, the film was screened in special presentation at the

2009 Toronto International Film Festival The 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 10 and September 19, 2009. The opening night gala presented the Charles Darwin biography '' Creation''. ''The Young Victoria'', based ...

, and at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...

, and was also the opening film at the

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; , ) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spain, Spanish city of Donostia, Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Countr ...

. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group paid a low seven-figure sum to acquire the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

distribution rights of ''Chloe'', and the group opened this film in

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in the United States on March 26, 2010 through

Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American arthouse film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloo ...

. In the United States, this film grossed $3 million theatrically, which was generally considered as a respectful result for an

arthouse film An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...

release in early 2010's. In the wake of ''Chloe'', Egoyan had since received many scripts of erotic thrillers. Amanda Seyfried's performance in this film also helped her to gain industry acclaim and become considered for more roles.

Home media

''Chloe'' was released in the United States on July 13, 2010 in both

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and

Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of ...

. The disc includes an

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

, making-of featurette, and

deleted scene A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread, and can al ...

s. The film did especially well in Home Video rentals; for instance, the film stayed in

Redbox Redbox Automated Retail, LLC was an American video rental and streaming media company, based in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois west of Chicago. Redbox specialized in automated DVD rental kiosks, and operated transactional and ad-supported streamin ...

Top 10 DVD rentals chart for three straight weeks (very good result for an arthouse release in the United States). Several months following the

and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

release of ''Chloe'', Egoyan said that ''Chloe'' had made more money than any of his previous films.

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 52% based on 160 reviews, with an average rating of 5.71/10. The site's consensus is that "Despite its promising pedigree and a titillating premise, ''Chloe'' ultimately fails to deliver the heat—or the thrills—expected of a sexual thriller."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a score from major reviewers, gave the film a 48 out of 100, based on 33 reviews, indicating "Mixed or average reviews."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' gave the film three and a half out of four stars and wrote: "It's not the kind of movie that depends on the certainty of an ending. It's more about how things continue."

Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for '' Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...

of ''Variety'' gave the film a mixed review: "Sexual suspicion and game-playing spiral down from the exotically intriguing to outright silliness in Chloe." Anthony Lane of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' compared the film to the French original: "The movie--directed by Atom Egoyan, who should know better--is closely adapted from '' Nathalie...'', a French film of 2004, with Gérard Depardieu and Emmanuelle Béart, but what seemed like standard practice for Parisians comes across here as unsmiling porno-farce″.

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * *

(fr
''Chloe''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chloe 2000s erotic thriller films 2009 independent films 2009 LGBTQ-related films 2009 psychological thriller films 2009 films Films about adultery American erotic thriller films American independent films American LGBTQ-related films American psychological thriller films American remakes of French films Canadian erotic thriller films Canadian independent films Canadian LGBTQ-related films Canadian psychological thriller films 2000s English-language films English-language Canadian films English-language French films Films about female bisexuality Films about prostitution in Canada Films about threesomes Films directed by Atom Egoyan Films produced by Ivan Reitman Films scored by Mychael Danna Films set in Toronto Films shot in Toronto French erotic thriller films Remakes of French films French independent films French LGBTQ-related films French psychological thriller films LGBTQ-related thriller films The Montecito Picture Company films Sony Pictures Classics films StudioCanal films 2000s American films 2000s Canadian films 2000s French films English-language independent films English-language erotic thriller films Films with screenplays by Erin Cressida Wilson