Nicole Kidman and Jason Bateman grew up as the children of Christopher Walken and Maryann Plunkett, a pair of performance artists who incorporated them, as children, in their disruptive pieces as "Child A" and "Child B". When they grew up, they moved onto more normal forms of art, Miss Kidman as an actress and Bateman a novelist. Now they're visiting their parents, who want to incorporate them in their latest piece, but they refuse, and when their latest effort fails, Walken reacts badly.the parents go on a vacation, but disappear on a stretch of road where a serial killer operates; Miss Kidman thinks this is another piece of art, but Bateman contemplates the possibility they are dead.
It's a joyless contemplation on the meaning of art carried on the abilities of its leads. Walken dominates through sarcasm and anger, belittling Kidman's roles; Miss Plunkett hides her paintings from him; Miss Kidman struggles with addictions and a fading career; Bateman may have injured himself -- he begins the movie in the hospital and wears bandages throughout most of the movie. He also roughs out a story in which he and his sister are orphans and sent to a cruel orphanage. Clearly the obsessiveness of art has its human costs!
It's a joyless contemplation on the meaning of art carried on the abilities of its leads. Walken dominates through sarcasm and anger, belittling Kidman's roles; Miss Plunkett hides her paintings from him; Miss Kidman struggles with addictions and a fading career; Bateman may have injured himself -- he begins the movie in the hospital and wears bandages throughout most of the movie. He also roughs out a story in which he and his sister are orphans and sent to a cruel orphanage. Clearly the obsessiveness of art has its human costs!