Affliction

I have seen Affliction advertised as a thriller, but that is actually misleading, even though the film itself leads us to believe that we are watching a film belonging to that genre. If you catch the name of the writer whose novel Paul Schrader has adapted, you might realize that something different from a traditional thriller is in store for you. The writer is Russell Banks, who recently had another of his books adapted by Atom Egoyan, a filmmaker whose films can hardly be termed genre-films.

The main character of the film is Wade Whitehouse, the sheriff of a small provincial town in a Northeastern state. When a powerful union leader goes hunting and is killed, Wade suspects that it is more than just a hunting accident. While trying to dig into the mystery, Wade's life slowly goes to pieces, which is the true concern of the film rather than the crime story. Affliction is a character study and not a very uplifting one.