The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them

A husband and wife (James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain) separate after a family tragedy. The subtitle tells us that this is the third part of a trilogy. The first two, Her and Him, each told from the appropriate perspective, are set for release in October. (Whether Them was edited down from the other two is unclear.) Anyhow, writer-director Ned Benson has a writer's instincts, but not an editor's. He smothers us in oblique details, never saying plainly what he prefers to suggest, and he doesn't know when enough is enough. He shows us nothing in 122 minutes that wouldn't have been just as clear at 90 or 100. The movie is sluggish, even stagnant, but with an appealing naturalism and first-rate performances from a pedigreed cast (including, besides the stars, William Hurt, Ciarán Hinds, Isabelle Huppert, Viola Davis and Bill Hader).