History Film / Stoker

* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler:[[AvertedTrope Averted.]] Poor Jonathan.]]

* TheJailBaitWait: Averted. India is already, as Charlie would say, [[ArcWords of age]]. [[spoiler:Because Charlie specifically waits to enter India's life until her 18th birthday, having been preparing to be with her -- and possibly preparing ''her'' [[WifeHusbandry to be with him]] -- since ''his'' 18th birthday.]]

After 18-year-old India Stoker (Creator/MiaWasikowska) loses her beloved father Richard in a car crash, a mysterious man shows up at the funeral - her uncle, Charlie (Matthew Goode). While India is apprehensive of a family member she's never even heard of until now, and suspicious about his motives, her unstable mother Evelyn (Creator/NicoleKidman) welcomes Charlie into their home. Witty and attractive, Charlie fills the hole Richard left behind - in more ways than one. Evelyn's infatuation with him grows, but India's manipulative, charming uncle seems to be more interested in India herself...

* WellDoneDaughterGal: India and Evelyn.

* IncestIsRelative: India is intrigued by, and eventually obsessed with, her uncle. Admittedly an uncle she only found out about when he turned up at her dad's funeral, but still.

* SceneryPorn
* TheSociopath: Guess who? Hint: [[spoiler:It's Charlie. India becomes one at the end as well.]]

* AmbiguousDisorder: India [[spoiler: and Charlie]], characterized by [[TheQuietOne long periods of silence]], [[SenseFreak inordinate attention to small details]] (coupled with a disregard for the big picture), disdain for social interaction, habitual lack of eye contact, a [[HatesBeingTouched dislike of physical contact]], and abnormally intense interests, all of which seem to she's autistic.

* AmbiguousDisorder: India [[spoiler: and Charlie]], characterized by [[TheQuietOne long periods of silence]], [[SenseFreak inordinate attention to small details]] (coupled with a disregard for the big picture), disdain for social interaction, habitual lack of eye contact, a [[HatesBeingTouched dislike of physical contact]], and abnormally intense interests, all of which seem to suggest Asperger Syndrome.

* ComfortingTheWidow: Charlie and Evelyn - although, to be fair, Evelyn is rather emotionally distraught at this point.

* DeadpanSnarker: India is this at times.

* FanDisservice: India masturbates in the shower [[spoiler:to the memory of one of her uncle's murders.]]

* InLoveWithYourCarnage: One possible interpretation of [[spoiler:India's]] strong reaction to [[spoiler:seeing Charlie kill her would-be rapist.]]

* WickedCultured: Charlie.

* RenaissanceMan: A slightly more realistic example in Uncle Charlie. He's handsome, charming, well-traveled, a top-notch chef, capable of dressing himself well and speaking French like a native, and a brilliant pianist. If rumor is to be believed, he is also an accomplished poet, a missionary, and a skilled tactician. [[spoiler:Too bad his skills have more in common with [[SilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]] than your average GentlemanAndAScholar.]]

* NightmareFetishist: [[spoiler:India masturbates at the memory of her rapist being killed]].

* AbusiveParents: "You know, I've often wondered why it is we have children? And the conclusion I've come to is, we want someone to get it ''right'' this time. But not me. Personally speaking, I can't wait to watch life ''tear you apart.''" Evelyn, ladies and gents. Although, in Evelyn's defense, this statement was made after [[spoiler: she caught India in what was probably an AlmostKiss with her [[IncestIsRelative uncle]] Charlie, whom Evelyn herself had been having an affair with]].

* AwesomeAnachronisticApparel: In a subdued sense, India's saddle shoes and neat dresses (never pants), which give her the look of having walked out of a bygone era.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Whip initially comes off as a TokenGoodTeammate with the [[JerkJock Jerk Jocks]], but he turns out to be pretty nasty. See DoggedNiceGuy.

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Charlie hasn't been travelling the world all these years, he's been institutionalized -- for killing his younger brother. He also murdered his older brother (and India's father) after being released when he was told he couldn't see India.]]

After India Stoker (Creator/MiaWasikowska) loses her beloved father Richard in a car crash, a mysterious man shows up at the funeral - her uncle, Charlie (Matthew Goode). While India is apprehensive of a family member she's never even heard of until now, and suspicious about his motives, her unstable mother Evelyn (Creator/NicoleKidman) welcomes Charlie into their home. Witty and attractive, Charlie fills the hole Richard left behind - in more ways than one. Evelyn's infatuation with him grows, but India's manipulative, charming uncle seems to be more interested in India herself...

* XMeetsY: ''Film/ShadowOfADoubt'' meets ''Film/{{Lolita}}'' meets ''{{Hamlet}}'' or ''Theatre/{{Electra}}''. (At no point do these meet ''{{Dracula}}'', however.)
** Although the film does feel like a vampire film without the vampire, as this [[http://gawker.com/5987721/stoker-is-a-vampire-movie-without-the-vampires review]] noted.

* [[YouSaidYouCouldntDance You Said You Couldn't Play Piano]]: India's suspicions are roused by the fact that when at the piano bench with her mother, Charlie pretends he can barely play Hot Cross Buns so Evelyn will have to teach him, but when he's with ''her''... The exchange of dialogue doesn't take place, but it seems highly suggested by some [[DeathGlare interesting looks.]]

* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: Aunt Gwendolyn, who's terrified enough of Charlie to not say anything in front of him even as much as she tries to intervene, trying to get both India and Evelyn alone so that she can warn them, then later decided to stay in a different hotel from the one originally planned so as to hide from him. This is all to no avail, unfortunately]]

* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: [[spoiler: India becomes a killer just like good ol Uncle Charlie at the end of the film, with her first victim being the Sheriff]].

* AbusiveParents: "You know, I've often wondered why it is we have children? And the conclusion I've come to is, we want someone to get it ''right'' this time. But not me. Personally speaking, I can't wait to watch life ''tear you apart.''" Evelyn, ladies and gents. Although, in Evelyn's defense, this statement was made after [[spoiler: she caught India in what was probably an AlmostKiss with her [[IncestIsRelative uncle]] Charlie, who Evelyn herself had been having an affair with]].

Despite having a title that's rather similar to the surname of [[Creator/BramStoker that guy]] who wrote {{Literature/Dracula}}, the film is ''not,'' in fact, about vampires.[[note]] Park already did that in {{Film/Thirst}}.[[/note]] (Although WordOfGod admits that the book was a big influence, as was Alfred Hitchcock's ''Film/ShadowOfADoubt''.)

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Charlie [[spoiler: kills off Mrs.[= McGarrick=] as soon as she begins to act against his plans, and later steals Aunt Gwendolyn's cell phone in order to locate and kill her]]

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: If only Richard Stoker had told his family about his brother. [[spoiler:At the very least, they would have known that Charlie was lying about where he was all this time.]]

* TeensAreMonsters: India's classmates are a bunch of chuckling, sneering bullies who harass her with drawings of her naked and show off by pretending to punch her, stopping millimeters away from actually striking her, in an attempt to make her flinch. India, however, is different -- after all, she's legally an adult now.

* VampireInvitation: Symbolically, when Charlie asks India's permission to stay with the family.

* TheJailBaitWait: Averted. India is already, as Charlie would say, [[ArcWords of age]]. [[spoiler:Because Charlie specifically waits to enter India's life until her 18th birthday, having been preparing to be with her -- and possibly preparing ''her'' [[WifeHusbandry to be with him]] -- since ''his'' 18th birthday.]]