Above Suspicion

Above Suspicion is a 2019 American crime thriller film directed by celebrated filmmaker Phillip Noyce. The movie starring Emilia Clarke, Jack Huston and Sophie Lowe is based on a true story and adapted from Joe Sharkey’s non-fiction book of the same name. The narrative is a gritty portrayal of deceit, passion, crime and the ultimate violation of trust.

Set in the late 1980s, the story unfolds in a small, economically depressed town of Appalachian Kentucky. The story's protagonist is Susan Smith, a young, seductive woman yearning to get away from her confined life in this backwater town, played by Emilia Clarke, best known for her role in the television series “Game of Thrones”. Desperate to escape her dead-end environment and its prescriptions, Susan Smith hopes for an opportunity that could free her from the cycle of poverty and abuse. Her life spirals into a new direction when our other protagonist, Mark Putnam, enters the scene.

Played with an intense authenticity by Jack Huston, Mark Putnam is an ambitious, newly-married FBI agent who moves to this Kentucky town for his first field assignment with his wife Kathy, depicted by the talented Sophie Lowe. Mark is perceived as an outsider by the local community. He finds himself in Susan's orbit as she becomes an informer for him to assist his investigations into the local crime circuits, primarily focused on bank robberies ruling the community.

As Susan finds herself increasingly drawn to the charismatic Mark, it becomes evident that their relationship is more complex than that of an FBI agent and an informant. Emilia Clarke pulls off this layered character with a sense of fragility, desperation, yet a bold courage. Simultaneously, Huston's portrayal of Mark displays an array of conflicting emotions - a feeling of superiority, the draw of temptation, and the looming guilt and fear.

Above Suspicion also highlights the class distinction, closely tied to the region itself, between Susan and Mark. She is the symbol of a neglected class waiting for a breakthrough, while Mark, an FBI agent, is representative of a broader, affluent world outside this town. The relationship between the two symbolizes the intersection of these distinct worlds, each loaded with their respective insecurities, ambitions, and desires.

The supporting cast of the film, including Sophie Lowe, delivers compelling performances that give depth to the story. Lowe's portrayal of Kathy, Mark's wife, brings an additional layer of complexity to the narrative; a woman caught between her husband’s ambitions, a troubled marriage, and her own sense of isolation in a foreign town. The character dynamics punctuated with cracks in trust, broken dreams, and raw ambitions give an edge to the story.

The film skillfully uses its setting, the Appalachians' bleak landscapes and decaying small towns, to add an atmospheric gloom to the narrative. The palpable tension and suspense in the film hold the viewer captivated till the end, and the story's dark, gritty feel permeates every scene.

Director Phillip Noyce masterfully handles the storytelling with a controlled pace, steady focus and an eye for intricate details. The torrid affair, the high stakes and the human emotions are neatly interwoven into the plot and serve to enhance the story's psychological depth. Noyce’s craft in creating suspenseful thrillers shines through as he unravels the narrative incrementally, maintaining the viewers' curiosity and building a layer of suspense around the consequences of Susan and Mark's actions.

Above Suspicion, while wrapped in a thrilling crime drama, is much more than just that. The film is essentially a human story tinged with desperation, choices, and their subsequent fallout. It raises profound questions about ambition and how far one would go to achieve it, about love and its potential destructiveness, and about trust and the extent of its breach.

The movie is tightly controlled, effectively narrated, and brilliantly performed by its lead actors. It is an engaging watch for lovers of true crime and those interested in character-driven narratives. Forever teetering on the brink of disaster, Above Suspicion generates an overpowering sense of foreboding that doesn't let up until the credits roll.