Whirlpool 1970

Sarah, Pia Andersson, a middle-aged photographer, lives in the countryside outside London with Theo, Karl Lanchbury, an aspiring photographer whom she has taken in. They refer to one another as aunt and nephew, respectively. The pair share a quiet, artistically charged world built on collaboration and mutual dependence, where boundaries blur as they push each other’s visions.

While at the studio, Sara, Pia Andersson, meets Tulia, Vivien Neves, a young fashion model, and invites her to stay at the house so Theo can photograph her. Tulia and Theo have a photo session in the woods, but the shoot is cut short when Tulia spots a cloaked figure watching them. The figure vanishes, leaving Tulia shaken and unsettled by the encounter.

That evening, Tulia, Vivien Neves, recounts to her hosts how her friend Rhonda—also a model who had spent time at Sarah’s home—felt frightened during her stay. In particular, Rhonda was unsettled by the nearby lake, which seemed ominous for reasons she couldn’t articulate. Soon after returning to London, Rhonda, Johanna Hegger, vanishes, leaving a chilling thread running through the house.

As night deepens, the three share drinks and play cards, and Tulia and Sarah end up undressing. Theo and Tulia begin to kiss, and Sarah retreats to her bedroom, lingering over photographs of Rhonda. Theo, Karl Lanchbury, becomes the focal point of the room’s charged tension, while the shadows of Rhonda’s disappearance loom over everything.

Tulia is tormented by nightmares involving Theo and Rhonda. In the morning, Sarah chastises Theo for not bringing Tulia into her room so they could indulge in a threesome, revealing a volatile mix of control, desire, and secrecy that threads through the day.

Inspector Mr. Field arrives and questions Theo about Rhonda’s disappearance. Theo claims Rhonda told him she planned to move to Italy after leaving Sarah’s house, a story meant to soothe suspicion but only deepening the web of lies surrounding the guests.

Theo takes Tulia to a local pub, where he pays a man for a “favor” and then brings the man and Tulia to a secluded area in the woods, allowing the man to initiate what appears to be a sexual assault on Tulia, photographing it. The assault stops short of rape, and Tulia, realizing Theo staged it as a photo opportunity, is revolted and demands to be returned to London. The cold calculus of Theo’s manipulations becomes starkly clear, and Tulia’s trust in the household fractures.

Back at the house, Sarah calms Tulia. Later that night, Sarah and Tulia have sex as Theo photographs it, a moment that escalates into a full threesome under the camera’s unblinking gaze. The unsettling dynamic between art, power, and peril presses in on every scene as the night advances and the tension thickens.

Meanwhile, Mr. Field continues to investigate, and Theo, reacting to the growing disquiet, exits to confront the situation at the property. He chases Field into his car and stabs him to death, a brutal act that casts a longer shadow over the events unfolding inside the house.

While Theo disposes of Field’s corpse, Sarah and Tulia are left unaware of the deadly turn of events. In the basement, Tulia discovers Theo’s darkroom filled with disturbing photographs: Rhonda being raped and murdered by Theo, the man from the pub, and a tramp who resides in town. After killing Rhonda, the men dispose of her corpse in the lake, sealing the grim arc of a night that began with artistic ambition and ended in murder.

Theo returns to the house and confronts a horrified Tulia, confessing that he is a sadist. Just as he tries to stab Tulia, she hits him with a developing tray and flees into the woods. Theo pursues her, cornering her by a fallen tree, where he fondles her and then fatally stabs her, sealing the tragic collapse of trust, safety, and humanity within a house that promised only art and connection.