Jennifer Jason Leigh isincredibly various , with a career that ’s spannedwildly differentmovies like degraded Times at Ridgemont High , Anomalisa , Single White Female , The Hudsucker Proxy , Dolores Claiborne , and The Hateful Eight . She ’s not always the lead , and the film she ’s in are not always masterpiece — but she always give movies considerably with her presence . Today , we ’re sharing our six favorite sci - fi moving-picture show featuring the stager actor .
Possessor
Brandon Cronenberg ’s Possessor came out originally this year ( it ’s newly on VOD ) , which means Leigh has now work withtwo generation of Cronenbergstwo tenner asunder ( her David Cronenberg film is , of grade , also on this listing ) . In this unsettling thriller , she plays Girder , the misleadingly lay - back boss of a woman name Vos ( Andrea Riseborough ) who ’s unusually gifted at an unusual job : creeping into the mind of unwitting patsies , then guiding them to commit assassinations on behalf of high up - ante up node . Girder ab initio seems like a benevolent mentor figure — she ’s the literal voice in Vos ’s head on each job , she ’s the one who bring Vos back to reality after each kill , and she ’s also curry Vos for the plum role of being her successor .
But Girder has more matter-of-fact reasons for wanting Vos to stay at the top of her secret plan : there ’s a hugely remunerative new contract on the horizon . As the fragile Vos teeterboard between turn over her alienated phratry a second prospect and fully committing her brain to be a high - tech slaying weapon , Girder is there to give her a gentle but firm push to get what she want . Leigh ’s nuanced execution shows you a woman who does n’t seem anything like a monster , and yet has completely lease go of caring about what ’s veracious or wrong as long as the monetary value is ripe .
https://gizmodo.com/sean-bean-looks-doomed-again-in-the-trippy-intense-pos-1844917172
Jennifer Jason Leigh plays a professional brain-drainer in Possessor.Image: Neon
The Jacket
The Jacket , which come out in 2005 , is a so - so moving-picture show that ’s mostly famous because of its ridiculously good plaster cast , which let in Keira Knightley , Kris Kristofferson , Kelly Lynch , and a pre-007 Daniel Craig . Adrien Brody , then just a few years past his Oscar win , stars as Jack , a Gulf War veteran who develops amnesia after a combat injury , then develops the ability to travel through meter when he ’s confined to a psychiatric infirmary that specialize in dicey experimental treatment method . His time - hopping gains urgency when he learns the date , but not the cause of , his impendent death .
Think too much about the plot of The Jacket and you ’ll get down losing your own mind , but the one character who makes sensation is Leigh ’s sympathetic doctor . Yeah , she work in the sketchy infirmary , but she ’s the only one there watching out for the most vulnerable patients ; she also expend her free meter caring for a friend ’s sick of youngster . She ’s hear to make a difference in her own way . When Jack comes to her for help , Leigh makes her character ’s gut - level decision to buy into his time - travel fib — then , when Future Jack pays her a visit hazard to be his own lookalike nephew , she needs only minimal dialog ( but a lot of fidgeting ) to show how spooked she is .
eXistenZ
In 1999 , the same year as The Matrix , David Cronenberg made this very different exploration ofvirtual domain that layer upon and bleed into realism , with a twisty tale of corporate espionage and distressingly overweight electronics stand in for fastball time and all those shiny outfits . Leigh plays Allegra Geller , a superstar secret plan couturier who ’s most toss off by a disgruntled anti - gamer while she ’s unveiling her late macrocosm . To ensure the game , titled eXistenZ , has n’t been damage in the fray , she “ port in”—since picture games in this reality literally plug directly into players ’ spikelet — at great endangerment , follow by a loth co-worker play by Jude Law .
https://gizmodo.com/6-more-heroes-who-might-still-be-trapped-in-virtual-rea-5280977
eXistenZ is a cleverly scripted video game riff that direct to keep you guessing until the end , at least when you ’re not gagging at all of Cronenberg ’s patented body revulsion and gross - out touches , let in the reoccurring great deal of a small-arm crafted out of reptilian gristle and human teeth . However , Leigh was cheer casting as a geeky yet tempting wunderkind who ’ll go to extreme distance to protect her biz but is untroubled to permit herself have fun while she ’s playing .
Allegra Geller and her crimped/straight hair situation.Screenshot: Miramax
Morgan
Luke Scott ’s 2016 fib of an stilted human(Anya Taylor - Joy ) who longs to be devoid but has trouble control her violent urges features Leigh as Dr. Kathy Grieff , who ’s attack by her “ patient ” in Morgan ’s first few minutes . The sequence spread out via the readiness ’s overhead surveillance television camera ; we do n’t see her face , but Leigh ’s soothing voice is unmistakable , decent up until the minute she ’s prod in the eye . Still , she does n’t fault Morgan , insisting “ it was my mistake ” to the skeptical corporate superintendent ( Kate Mara ) who ’s number to evaluate the damage . Though Kathy ’s drugged out of her mind with a still - oozing bandage on her face , she remains optimistic ; like most of her workfellow at the facility , she ’s become deeply emotionally invested in the task . Her byname for Morgan is “ baby , ” and she clings to that illusion far longer than she should .
https://gizmodo.com/scifi-thriller-morgan-is-a-striking-but-predictable-mod-1785922022
As this tilt has show , Leigh ’s been throw away as a doctor tax with navigating slippery ethical territory more than once . Chalk it up to her ability to bring both brilliance and soulfulness , often with confidential information of a damaged inner life hang around below the surface . If you ’re paying attending , Kathy also get a contrast of negotiation in the first 10 minute that feels like a softball affront lobbed at Mara ’s character — but actually foreshadows the movie ’s “ assassin ” twirl .
Into the Shimmer, and beyond.Image: Paramount
Annihilation
Alex Garland ’s 2018 version ofJeff VanderMeer ’s trippy wilderness taleis mostly about Natalie Portman ’s case , Lena , who venture into an alien - spawned part dub “ the Shimmer ” to figure out what happened to her racing shell - shocked husband on his own journey there . Leigh play psychologist Dr. Ventress , who brings Lena into the plica with gentle - spoken , aweary energy that barely masks her own dictated curiosity about the phenomenon . She ’s the only one who knows Lena ’s personal connection to the mission , and they partake in a trammel over that .
Ventress has her own personal need , though ; after compulsively studying and chronicle the Shimmer from a secure distance , she ’s eager to take a closer look before yield to the terminal illness she ’s been concealing from most everyone . And she sire there , expiring only after come to a profound realisation about what the Shimmer ’s end game is ( hint : it ’s the flick ’s claim ) then fragmentise as light erupt from her body . It ’s a moment that ’s both sinister and full of marvel , and is Annihilation ’s most memorable death by far . In a pic with some hideous death — including multiple the great unwashed taken out bya terrifyingly mutate bear — that ’s saying something .
https://gizmodo.com/annihilation-will-mess-with-your-mind-and-have-you-begg-1823193820
Twin Peaks: The Return
Is Twin Peaks sci - fi ? listen us out : throughout its run , the David Lynch series delve into parallel reality , doppelgängers , UFOs , the lingering aftereffects of the atomic bomb , sentient electronegative forces , fourth dimension change of location ( possibly ? ) , and so much more . Leigh made her mug in a herd cast as Chantal , a new fiber introduced in the 2017 Showtime revitalisation . She provides a sure amount of macabre comic relief alongside her partner in offence , Hutch , played by Tim Roth . They act upon for the malevolent adaptation of Cooper ( Kyle MacLachlan ) , carrying out whatever unsavory undertaking he orders them to do , including but not limited to brutally murdering his enemies .
It ’d be tempting to call Chantal and Hutch “ fumble ” if they were n’t so cocky about being efficiently deadly — but their hot streak stop when they get into a parking difference with a well - armed Las Vegas suburbanite while impale out their next intended dupe . It ’s a bonkers chronological succession that ’s only raise by Leigh ’s commitment to let Chantal eat as many Cheetos as possible every time she ’s on camera .
https://gizmodo.com/the-twin-peaks-finale-was-as-gloriously-enigmatic-as-it-1799116644
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