In the Bedroom is a 2001 film directed and co-written by Todd Field, based on a short story by Andre Dubus that has a Spoiler Title (q.v. below).
It's not an Erotic Film; the title refers to the "bedroom" of a lobster trap. Matt and Ruth Fowler (Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek) are a happily married couple nearing retirement age in a Maine coastal town; he is a doctor and she is a high school music teacher. They have one son, Frank (Nick Stahl) who is about to go to grad school to study architecture.
Frank is dating Natalie (Marisa Tomei), a significantly older woman with two sons. Natalie is separated from her husband and the father of the boys, Richard (William Mapother). Richard, as it happens, is abusive, possessive, and violently jealous.
Tragedy ensues.
Karen Allen of Animal House and Raiders of the Lost Ark fame appears in one scene as a defense attorney.
Tropes:
- Big "NO!": Natalie, when she races downstairs after hearing the gunshot and finds Frank dead on the floor.
- Bittersweet Ending: Matt kills Richard out of revenge for Frank, and will likely get away with the crime, which satisfies Ruth; however, he's clearly disturbed by the whole affair.
- Decoy Protagonist: Frank and Natalie are built up in the first act as the main characters of a Love Triangle story involving Natalie's ex-husband Richard. Frank dies at the very end of the first act and Natalie's screen time drastically drops off after the event. The real protagonists are Matt and Ruth, Frank's parents.
- Dies Differently in Adaptation: The short story original had Frank die being shot twice in the chest and once in the head. The movie instead has him shot in the eye once.
- Double-Meaning Title: Matt gives a little bit of exposition to a boy about how the "bedroom" of a lobster trap is where the lobster is, well, trapped. He states specifically that if three lobsters get stuck in there together they start fighting and one usually comes off worse for it. The symbolism of the title and how it applies to the fatal Love Triangle between Frank, Richard, and Natalie is obvious.
- Dramatic Gun Cock: Matt does the "dramatically work the slide of an automatic" bit when pointing his gun at Richard. This scares Richard enough for him to meekly get in the car.
- Empty Bedroom Grieving: After Frank's funeral, Matt goes into Frank's room to grieve.
- Eye Scream: There is a disturbing closeup of Frank dead on the floor, shot right through the right eye.
- Hands-Off Parenting: This is definitely Matt's approach to parenting Frank, as he rarely interferes with Frank's decisions.
- Happily Married: Until their son is murdered, Matt and Ruth are a loving couple with a surprisingly active sex life for people of their age.
- Hate Sink: Richard Strout is an obnoxious and selfish brute of a man who becomes increasingly hostile in his efforts to reinsert himself into Natalie's life. He not only shows absolutely no remorse for killing Frank, but even tries to justify his actions to his victim's father.
- Hollywood Law: The prosecutor tells Matt and Ruth that because Natalie did not explicitly see Richard shoot Frank, he'll only get charged with manslaughter, nor murder, and serve five to ten years at most. This is pretty ridiculous, as she'd seen plenty, like Richard breaking in, then having the murder weapon right in his hand with Frank dead on the ground. People have been convicted of murder without an eyewitness many times, or even a body sometimes-this would be far more than enough to prove the case along with his clear motive. Unless there was some problem with her testimony or the forensic evidence from the gun (none's mentioned) this would be open and shut. He might still have a plea deal, but it would likely be to second degree murder, with a much longer sentence than is mentioned. Instead, this inspires Matt to go vigilante on Richard so he won't get off so easily, which ends in Richard's murder.
- Jump Cut: There are several jump cuts in the last scene, when Matt is stripping off his murder clothes, putting them in the laundry, and going to bed. This seems to be symbolic of his disturbed state of mind.
- Kubrick Stare: Richard the psycho gives one to Frank as he's looking through the window in Natalie's door, right before their fatal confrontation.
- Lampshaded Double Entendre: Ruth is complaining about her son getting distracted by his sexy girlfriend, saying "He needs his head in school, not in her." Matt grins lecherously and says "So to speak."
- Love Triangle: Between beautiful Natalie, her abusive husband, and her adoring young new boyfriend. It doesn't end well.
- Male Gaze: Matt is grilling at a family cookout. He opens a bag of hamburger buns and says "I got the wrong kind of buns." His buddy Willis casts a gaze at Natalie's shapely posterior as she bends down to look after her son and says "Maybe we can borrow hers."
- Meadow Run: The first scene is a chase variation of Meadow Run, with Frank playfully chasing Natalie through the tall grass outside her house.
- Mrs. Robinson: There is a noticeable age difference between Frank and Natalie (the film doesn't state exactly, but Marisa Tomei was 15 years older than Nick Stahl). Frank's parents aren't wild about him dating a formerly married mother of two. However, the movie doesn't try to paint Natalie as being manipulative as the Trope Namer (or other examples of this trope in action), as she is a firmly innocent figure despite everything that occurs.
- My Beloved Smother: Matt accuses Ruth of being one towards Frank, for her constant disapproval and micromanaging of his life.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When he returns home the morning after killing Richard, Matt is stunned and haunted by his actions.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: As the tension in their marriage reaches a boiling point, both Matt and Ruth issue one to the other for their differences in parenting styles, accusing the other of causing Frank's death.
- Spoiler Title: Thankfully averted in the film. The Andre Dubus short story the film was adapted from, however, is titled "Killings" (note the plural), eliminating a lot of doubt about how it ends.
- The Stoic: Matt. He doesn't emote very often, and almost never in front of others.
- Undying Loyalty: Willis to his best friend Matt. To the point that he helps him commit and cover up a murder.
- Vanity License Plate: The only bit of comic relief in the latter three-quarters of the movie comes when Tom is sitting at a traffic light. Ahead of him is a car with a "STUDENT DRIVER" sign on the back. Underneath that sign is a vanity plate that reads "PRAY4US".
- Vigilante Man: Matt and an old Navy buddy of his decide to forcibly make Richard leave town at gunpoint. It turns into murder as Matt then kills Richard, after which the two bury him in the woods.
