The Swerve
The first time I really recognized Azura Skye was on an episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” She played a high school student who saw that she was going to die, and Buffy, a guidance counselor at the time, and she broke my heart in that episode. (She does in “28 Days,” as well.) She’s a natural at playing characters who are struggling with emotions that are bottled up, and in “The Swerve,” she is playing another character of that type. Added to the mix is an uncertainty of reality, and Dean Kapsalis’s drama gives her a chance to deliver maybe the strongest performance of her career.
Throughout “The Swerve,” we are shown images of Holly (Skye) driving at night, her hands are bloodied, before seeing her in bed. She is trying to get some sleep, but her restlessness is taxing on her. We come to see that Holly’s life, with a husband and two kids and a decent job as a teacher, is not a bad one, but her insomnia is taking a toll on her, and it finds itself manifesting in some emotional turmoil with family. Over time, the struggle gets harder and harder, as she worries that her husband is distant, finds out that a student has a crush on her, and is concerned about how, one night, she might have been responsible for another car swerving off the road. With her insomnia, however, it’s unsure how much of it is reality and how much is her overactive imagination.
“The Swerve” centers on Skye’s performance, and you cannot take your eyes off of her. The pain and anxiety she’s feeling at every given moment of the film is palpable, making the ending just that much more tragic. I was reminded of Aronofsky’s “mother!,” but “The Swerve” is more of a through-line narrative than that film is. It still has moments of being disjointed, though, and that’s what helps make Skye’s performance so successful- she’s just pushing through Kapsalis’s vision, and it’s a piece of acting that you will not soon forget, but anyone who is familiar with some of her earlier performances, know she was plenty capable of. She delivers, and breaks your heart.
