Movie Reviews: Savage Grace

Fans of such shows as Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous ought to feel right at home with this film that apparently is based on a true story. Set over a number of decades our tale focuses in on the “everyday” life of the Baekeland clan. Man of the hour Brooks has inherited a fortune over the centuries thanks to a visionary granddad. Married to painter turned party girl Barbara the pair live a grand life, traveling the world, dining at the best restaurants and raising a young son, Tony.
We first meet Tony as a child and then see him grow as the family travels the globe. Pleasure is what these parents live for and not before long as a teen Tony also witnesses those leisurely pursuits. All that money, however, can be rather problematic as mom and dad become a bit non-receptive to each others needs. Drugs, alcohol and infidelity seem like the order of the day as this pair lives it up in ways that only the moneyed class can imagine.
Young Tony becomes a man in a rush and winds up having countless affairs, like his parents. Just how decadent this family becomes must be seen to be believed as a whole series of new interlopers/partners descends on their comfortable lairs. And that mother/son relationship becomes a bit less conventional as wild seeds are sowed quite often in this decadent journey into lust, sexual liberation and a whole lot more.
Various controversial subjects and practices involving sexuality burst forth in a rather eye-opening drama that shows just how far adults can go when it seems all those inbred inhibitions are left by the wayside.
Director Tom Kalin succeeds in creating a very good atmosphere of excesses between a family and their close circle of friends.