Line #13 Film/CassandrasDream


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cassandras_dream.jpg]]
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3	''Cassandra's Dream'' is a 2007 dramatic thriller film written and directed by Creator/WoodyAllen.
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5	Brothers Terry (Creator/ColinFarrell) and Ian (Creator/EwanMcGregor), who live in South London, were raised by their mother Dorothy to look up to their uncle Howard (Creator/TomWilkinson), a successful plastic surgeon and businessman. Terry has a gambling addiction that sinks him deeper in debt, while Ian wishes to invest in hotels in California to finance a new life with beautiful actress Angela Stark (Creator/HayleyAtwell). To overcome their financial issues, they ask Howard for help. He agrees to help them, but asks for a favor in return: they must murder someone for him. Howard faces imprisonment for unspecified crimes and his future is threatened by a former business partner who plans to testify against him. Howard asks his nephews to get rid of Burns, and in return he will reward them financially. After initial reluctance, the brothers agree, setting in motion a series of tragedies.
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8	!!This film features examples of:
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10	* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler:Terry accidentally kills his brother Ian by knocking him down the steps into their boat's cabin. Ironically, Ian had come to the boat to kill Terry in the first place.]]
11	* BettyAndVeronica: While the two female love interests in the film aren't part of a love triangle, each being involved with one of the two brothers, their personalities fit perfectly the trope: Kate (Creator/SallyHawkins) is the soft, reasonable but exceedingly naive girl next door, and Angela (Creator/HayleyAtwell) the sexy, intellectual actress of questionably loose morals.
12	* CainAndAbel: [[spoiler:After Terry confides that he wants to turn himself in to the police for the murder, Ian and Howard agree there is no alternative but to get rid of Terry, so Ian plans to poison him, but at the last moment [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes can't bring himself to kill his own brother]], however, he nonetheless attacks him in a fit of rage. In the chaos, Terry knocks Ian down the steps into their boat's cabin, killing him.]]
13	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:After Terry accidentally kills his brother Ian, the audience learns that afterwards Terry snapped and drowned himself.]]
14	* FamilyBusiness: The film's dramatic events probably wouldn't have unfolded if one of the two brothers had been satisfied to keep on running his father's restaurant... and hadn't agreed to help the uncle with the trouble in his business. They're not actually TheMafia, but the subtext exists.
15	* FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling: Terry has a [[TheGamblingAddict gambling addiction]] while Ian thinks of investing in hotels in California. Darkly deconstructed later after [[spoiler:they succeed in carrying out the murder; [[TheSociopath Ian]] is content to move on as if nothing happened, but Terry is consumed by guilt]].
16	* TheGamblingAddict: Terry has a gambling addiction. [[spoiler:It worsens after he's consumed by guilt after carrying out the murder.]]
17	* GuiltRiddenAccomplice: Terry cracks under the burden of the crime.
18	* SiblingYinYang: Terry is reckless yet thoughtful, while Ian is responsible yet cool. Even just visually, the contrast between the brothers is striking, looking nothing alike except for [[MrFanservice being drop dead gorgeous]]. They would've also fell for FoolishSiblingResponsibleSibling if not for the fact that [[spoiler:Ian, the seemingly responsible one, is content to move on after the murder they commited as if nothing happened, while Terry is consumed by guilt]].

Context Film / CassandrasDream