Last time Patricia Clarkson and writer/director Ruba Nadda got together, they delivered the delightful romance Cairo Time, in which Clarkson’s character romanced a swoon-worthy Alexander Siddig among the Egyptian pyramids. In October Gale, their second film collaboration, Nadda and Clarkson, start off at a darker place, as we meet recently widowed doctor Helen Matthews (Clarkson), who decides to spend some time at the remote cabin where she and her late husband (Callum Keith Rennie) last spent time together. Against the warnings of her son, who reminds her she’s never been there all alone, Helen leaves in the hopes of finding closure and peace of mind.
Shortly after she arrives, a man (Scott Speedman) with a gunshot wound washes ashore and she takes him in, to heal his wounds. She learns his name is William and he’s being pursued by a mysterious man (Tim Roth) who wants him dead, yet instead of asking him to leave, Helen decides to protect him, despite the threat of the killer and a storm that has cut them off from the mainland. October Gale is a smart adult drama disguised as a thriller. By featuring Clarkson as an unlikely hero, Nadda inverts the roles and proves that in this case, the man can be the “damsel in distress”, and the heroine doesn’t only get to save him, but also deal with her own emotional turmoil.
As is always the case, Clarkson is a real pleasure to watch, creating yet another layered, beautifully lived-in character, who is able to evoke an entire history just by emphasizing a word or two in a line reading. Talking to William about her husband, she confesses “we spent our entire lives together and he died alone”, a moment that truly pierces through the heart. Thriller conventions abound (Roth as a villain!) but Clarkson’s work elevates the film in the same way Meryl Streep did The River Wild, or Jodie Foster has done with anything she’s been cast in after The Silence of The Lambs.
