This odd little film, which is about a decade old now, found its way onto DVD. It’s set in a magazine office, where writers, graphic artists and all sorts of creative types buzz around assembling the next edition. But the owner has been losing money so she brings in a new, economic-rationalist force Norah (Jeanne Tripplehorn) to cut the fat. One of the new implementations is computers and email. 

In a weirdly timely parallel, all the staff is moved from permanent positions to part-time contracts. The most dedicated, hard-working and invisible employee, Dorine (Carol Kane), is told she is not productive enough. This on top of the fact that her father was a founding editor. Dorine lives at home with her crippled mother whom she cares for more out of a sense of duty than love. 

Very upset at the changes and the insults, Dorine begins to assert herself… you guessed it, through murder. This film tries very hard to be black, but the dark humour is only so so. Most of the situations seem forced and unreal. This doesn’t stop it from being an enjoyable film however. In my opinion, the one thing holding it all together is the force of Kane’s performance. Her character’s psyche does some pretty outlandish acrobatics—her ability as an actor is tested but she punches through impressively. 

The set design and cinematography collaborate to produce an eerie, murky feel—you’ll notice the unceasingly faulty fluorescent lights. 

This is definitely an empowering film for the inner-nerd in all of us. No, we should not go out and murder the office bullies! But we should realise that we can gain our power simply by speaking and acting as if we already have it. That is the lesson from Cindy Sherman’s film.  

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