Ben Mendelsohn and Rooney Mara skirt around the edges of a dark tale of child sexual abuse

REVIEW: Part victim, part avenger, Rooney Mara grapples with the complex legacy of child sex abuse in this haunting drama.

UNA

Three stars

Director Benedict Andrews

Starring Rooney Mara, Ben Mendelsohn

Rating M

Running time 94 minutes

Verdict: Haunting drama

ROONEY Mara and Ben Mendelsohn wrestle with the slippery semantics of sexual abuse in this muscular film adaptation of David Harrower’s acclaimed stage play Blackbird.

But they never quite manage to pin anything down.

The camera’s restless agitation, as it stalks the dysfunctional couple through the corridors of an anonymous warehouse, doesn’t help.

Nor does the seeming lack of age disparity between the two actors (even though their 16-year age gap is more than enough to explain the impropriety of their relationship when the character was 13).

Una (Mara) is damaged goods.

In the opening scene, self-medicating with alcohol and drugs, she tries to lose herself in an act of anonymous, public sex.

As her backstory unfolds, it becomes apparent that Una has never recovered from her “relationship”, as a 13-year-old, with a man who was old enough to be her father.

So when she stumbles upon a photograph of Ray (Mendelsohn) at his new workplace, she drives there to confront him.

For the next hour and a half the two actors go head-to-head with the dark and complex legacy of child sexual abuse.

Melbourne-born Ben Mendelsohn as the alleged abuser in a scene from Una.

Perhaps the most provocative scenes are the flashbacks, featuring Ruby Stokes as the teenage Una, a kid who seems both old for her age and heart-achingly naive.

Mara’s grown-up Una, by comparison, is needy, angry and brave. At some points in the exchange, she is looking for answers. At others, she is seeking vengeance.

Both actress’s performances are extremely potent.

Mendelsohn’s character is more ambiguous.

Mara’s Una confronts her abuser Ray (Ben Mendelsohn).

Having done his time in jail, Ray appears to have successfully reinvented himself with a new wife and a new life.

It’s only when Una physically intrudes on his comfortable, middle class existence, that he is forced to confront his past.

Una is now screening

Originally published as Ben Mendelsohn and Rooney Mara skirt around the edges of a dark tale of child sexual abuse