A Forgotten Jude Law Thriller Is Killing On Netflix
The Jude Law/Rooney Mara thriller Side Effects is in the top 10 on Netflix.
The 2013 Jude Law film Side Effects is currently in the Netflix top 10, beating out recent big-name blockbusters for the spot on the prestigious list. According to Flix Patrol, the Steven Soderbergh thriller is seeing a huge streaming boost in the United States, rising to prominence after being largely forgotten within the collective pop culture memory after its initial release. Despite it not being a part of the larger pop culture discussion, the film has been praised as a post-modern take on a Hitchcockian thriller and has an 81 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Side Effects follows a gripping tale of espionage and deception, as Rooney Mara’s Emily, a wealthy New York socialite, experiences depression symptoms and suicidal tendencies amidst the anxiety of her husband, played by Channing Tatum, arriving home from a four-year prison sentence for insider trading. Jude Law stars as Emily’s psychiatrist, prescribing her medication that is meant to alleviate her mental illnesses, before becoming entrapped within a series of illegal capers that sees him lose his license to practice, his family, and maybe even his freedom. The film was nominated for a series of awards at international film festivals before its theatrical release.
Visionary filmmaker Steven Soderbergh of course brought his A game to the film, having come fresh off directing Magic Mike and the Matt Damon-led The Informant in the years leading up to Side Effects‘ release, Soderbergh is a master of versatility and manages many styles of tone and filmmaking effortlessly. The film was written by Scott Z. Burns and was originally titled The Bitter Pill before changing its title and screening at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival. Jude Law was also coming off a hot streak in 2013, following up his successes in films such as Repo Men as well as the Robert Downey Jr.-led Sherlock Holmes.
Soderbergh and Jude Law also worked together on Contagion, the 2011 prophetic film following the spread of a deadly virus which shocked the world and caused global pandemonium. The film saw success upon release but, of course, became strangely prescient amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and beyond. In Side Effects, Law’s dramatic acting chops are put to the test as he goes from a respected psychiatrist who works with the state to a dejected man who lost it all in the crosshairs of a fiendish conspiracy.
The Jude Law-led film is in excellent company among the top 10 of Netflix films, streaming alongside modern breakout hits such as Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Bullet Train, and Noah Baumbach’s latest feature, the Adam Driver-led White Noise. In fact, Side Effects is the only movie currently on the list to not have come out in the last year besides Dreamworks’ Trolls, which came out in 2016 and currently holds the number four placement. This should give audiences a sense of both Soderbergh’s inherent mastery of filmmaking as well as Side Effects‘ ability to hold up to the test of time.
