Line #20 Film/Repulsion


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/repulsion_1965.jpeg]]
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3	''Repulsion'' is a 1965 PsychologicalHorror film directed by Creator/RomanPolanski, based on a scenario he wrote with Gérard Brach. It was Polanski's first English-language film, and was filmed in Britain, as such being his second film made outside of Poland. It's also the first film in his so-called "Apartment Trilogy" (followed by ''Film/RosemarysBaby'' and ''Film/TheTenant'').
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5	Creator/CatherineDeneuve stars as Carol, a young Belgian manicurist who lives in London with her sister Helen. Carol seems generally nervous and fearful, particularly of men. When Helen decides to go on a holiday to Italy with her married boyfriend, Carol is left home alone for a few days. [[MindScrew It doesn't turn out to be a very pleasant experience]]. Cooped up alone in the apartment, Carol's already unstable mind begins to crack.
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9	!!This film provides examples of:
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11	* ActorAllusion: Helen's reference to La Dolce Vita (the sweet life) on her postcard is a nod to the actress playing Helen, Yvonne Furneaux, who was also in the [[Film/LaDolceVita film of the same name.]]
12	* AllMenArePerverts: Even seeming NiceGuy Colin has trouble respecting Carol's boundaries, and nearly ever other male in the film is lecherous, condescending, crude, unfaithful, or all of the above.
13	* AngstComa: Appears to be [[spoiler: Carol's final fate; she's found under her bed, alive (her arm moves at one point), eyes open, but completely unresponsive]].
14	* AssholeVictim: It's pretty hard to feel that sorry for the landlord, who was more than happy to try to take advantage of an obviously fragile Carol and sexually assault her...if the assault did actually happen and wasn't another of Carol's paranoid hallucinations.
15	* BloodIsSquickerInWater: Blood begins to pool in the water when Carol places Colin's corpse in the bathtub.
16	* BookEnds: The film opens by zooming out of a tight closeup of Carol's eye. It ends with the camera zooming in on the photo of Carol as a child until it zooms in onto her eye.
17	* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes: Carol, the manicurist, bites her nails.
18	* CrankyLandlord: The landlord. In addition to being cranky, he's also a creep who tries to force himself on Carol, [[{{Mindscrew}} Maybe.]]
19	* CreatorCameo: Polanski dressed as a woman as one of the tenants coming into Carol's apartment at the end.
20	* DarkAndTroubledPast: Implied for Carol's childhood
21	* DoesNotLikeMen: Carol is either this, or just really, really afraid of them. Assuming that she had been raped as a child, it’s easy to see why she’s this way.
22	* DoggedNiceGuy: Really nastily subverted with Colin. He breaks down the door to the apartment, he says stuff about how he can't live without her and he had to see her, and she caves in his skull with a candlestick.
23	* EpicFail: Carol's attempt to hide the body and the murder weapon. It's also ''[[SarcasmMode not noticeable at all]]'' that she overturned the sofa to hide her second body.
24	* EyeOpen: Starts with a tight closeup of Carol's eye as the entire opening credits roll by.
25	* {{Fingore}}: Carol, gripped by some fit of mania, slices the finger of a customer she's supposed to be servicing at the beauty salon.
26	* FreudianExcuse: Carol's implied reason for psychosis [[spoiler:and murder.]]
27	* GoMadFromTheIsolation: Carol, apparently much quicker than most people. Then again, she doesn't seem to have been all that sane to begin with...
28	* GoryDiscretionShot: Thankfully, we don't get to see what happened to [[spoiler: Colin's body]] after a week or so in the tub filled with water. Poor Helen...
29	* GrossUpCloseUp: We get long, lingering looks at the food rotting in the apartment, including a whole rabbit. It's the sort of thing that makes you grateful for black and white photography.
30	* HairRaisingHare: The skinned rabbit that Helen plans to cook and that Carol leaves sitting out in the living room.
31	* HatesBeingTouched: Carol flinches and shrinks from even the most innocent touch. A kiss is enough to send her running through traffic to get away. This only extends to men, however; she seems comfortable being touched by women.
32	* HateSink: The landlord starts off as a mere greedy jerk, but when we see him again when Carol pays him her rent, his {{Slimeball}} characteristics come into full view as he pretends to emotionally comfort her before attempting to assault her, [[{{Mindscrew}} or so we're led to believe]].
33	* TheImmodestOrgasm: One of the first things that disturbs Carol's obviously already fragile mental state is the sound of her sister moaning in pleasure from sex with her boyfriend.
34	* JerkassHasAPoint: Helen's callow boyfriend makes a remark about how Carol ought to see a doctor, which makes Helen immediately defensive. As much of a jerk as he is, he's right that Carol could ''really, really'' use a therapist.
35	* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Although Helen is sometimes impatient with her sister, she's the only person Carol trusts. Her presence keeps Carol (barely) functional, and a week-long absence is enough to send Carol completely off the deep end.
36	* MindScrew: The viewer is put in Carol's position of never quite knowing what's really happening and what she's hallucinating.
37	* MirrorScare: The first sign that Carol is more than just shy and high-strung. She sees a reflection of a man in the mirror, but he isn't there when she turns around.
38	* MundaneHorror: The main character starts experiencing weird hallucinations at her flat, including cracks in the walls and AlienGeometries.
39	* OneWordTitle: ''Repulsion''
40	* ParalyzingFearOfSexuality: Taken to the extreme.
41	* QuieterThanSilence: Carol almost never speaks, so when she's alone in the house, this is natural. However, special mention has to go to the [[{{ImagineSpot}} Imagine Spot]]s where a man breaks into her room and assaults her. All we hear in those scenes is a clock ticking.
42	* TheQuietOne: Carol fits this trope, to a T.
43	* RapeAsBackstory: Carol's implied childhood.
44	* RapeLeadsToInsanity: It's strongly implied, in the final shot, that Carol's mental problems stem from having been raped as a girl.
45	* SanitySlippage: The whole plot of the film. It's obvious that something's wrong with Carol by the 30-minute mark, when she sees a crack in the pavement and fixates on it, sitting on a bench and staring for over an hour. It gets worse from there.
46	* ShoutOut: Carol's coworker Helen talks about having seen Creator/CharlieChaplin's film ''Film/TheGoldRush'' and even does an imitation of the Tramp.
47	* ShrinkingViolet: Carol is a shy, soft-spoken young woman who is clearly uncomfortable in social situations, especially around men.
48	* SoundtrackDissonance: A confident, upbeat, cool jazz number plays as Carol walks the streets of London, looking anything but confident and upbeat.
49	* TrashOfTheTitans: By the end of the movie, the apartment is an utter mess, with overturned furniture, trash strewn about, and rotting food. [[spoiler:That's to say nothing of the corpses in the bathtub and living room.]]
50	* VomitDiscretionShot: Carol finds one of Michael's soiled undershirts on the bathroom floor. One curious sniff is all it takes for her to rush to the toilet to throw up.

Context Film / Repulsion