Warning: This review contains spoilers.
All this changes when the characters go to Sweden for Joe to accept his Nobel Prize, and The Wife starts uncovering some uncomfortable truths about the author. First, Joe behaves increasingly like a passive-aggressive jerk toward David; he provides his son with only the most basic feedback on his writing until pressured to say anything more, at which point the father becomes stingingly negative. Then, during an argument between the author and his wife, Joan brings up the fact that Joe has cheated on her repeatedly throughout their marriage. And crucially, flashbacks reveal that Joe never wrote any of his books; he’s been a front for the demure (and more talented) Joan all along. In another argument between husband and wife that occurs near the end of the film, Joe proposes that he come forward and reveal the truth about “his” writing now that it’s received the highest honor in fiction. Joan vehemently tells him not to, the argument intensifies, and Joe has a heart attack and dies. Flying back to the U.S. later on, Joan is confronted by a writer (Christian Slater) who wants to pen Joe’s biography and who has figured out the secret behind his success. The movie ends with her warning him not to publish the truth, saying she’ll sue him for libel if he does.
Directed by Björn Runge. R, 100 min.
