in this gripping tale of suburban inertia we find Carol White, who is also a "milkaholic", at the center of an insidious attack by her self. You see, Carol is the 80's nightmare wife of a free spending, typically self -centered businessman. Her life revolves around a routine of pampering and shopping that somehow causes a great deal of stress to be foisted upon her uncapable self. She seemingly has never spent more than a few seconds examining her "reality", and that could be an over-exaggeration, until the emptiness of her life finally overcomes her. The manifestation of this inability to cope with her own blandness is a severe reaction to milk, how wry, and chemicals. We are taken on a journey through doctor and psychiatrist until she takes her salvation into her own hands and retreats to the new mexico desert. Here she encounters more empty souls suffering from her condition and replacing it with a tepid new-age outlook. Here she in confronted with somethings that seem to be completely new to her, specifically self-responsibility and emotion. Yet wouldn't you know that even these seemingly worthwhile notions are as empty as her soul. In this tragedy/satire/comedy, we are both repelled by carol's lack of substance yet drawn to her out of pity. Her salvation ends up being thwarted, only she is too blind to notice, by a charlatan priest of all that is new-age. The final scene in the movie is perhaps the most hauting in recent memory as we see a completely lost Carol chanting to herself, "I love you". The tragedy here is twofold in that she is incapable of loving and has no conception to whom she is speaking. The performances are so subtle and brilliant that I would recommend "Safe" without reservation.
