This is one of my personal favorites and I am baffled to find out people hate it. However, it only works on levels apart from what the director intended. The first is as an answer to the question "What if Fifty Shades of Grey didn't suck?" The second is as a feminist (for lack of a better term) narrative. There is no movie heroine like this one: She has gone through extreme trauma and victim blaming, and we are supposed to admire her for maintaining integrity and willpower when her voice is threatened, which I do. She isn't even supposed to have a love interest! I salute you, Radha Baradwaj.
Unfortunately, the political message is completely undermined once the twist is revealed. I myself am convinced the Interrogator was indeed the child molester, for long before child molestation is brought up, we have lines like "Before you knew a man's touch" and "You've changed." You have to watch it a second time. Most convincing is the poetry the Interrogator recites, which would only make sense if he had known her before. And with all the times she says he's lying, she doesn't do so when he claims to be the child molester! So the motivation in tracking her down was personal rather than ideological--although you could argue that his victim blaming and rise to power despite being a pedophile are connected to ideology. BUT, she is not being held prisoner for ideological reasons! He just didn't want to be found out because the story Closet Land hints at his terrible secret. I guess pedophiles aren't supposed to work for this government after all. Anyway, considering all this, what evidence do we have that this government's beliefs and aims are so bad?
Despite this gaping plot hole, I'm damned if Closet Land isn't greatly enjoyable and well-written in every other way. Especially if you're one of those crazy Alan Rickman fans, I recommend it.
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