Why Kubrick set Eyes Wide Shut during the holidays remains a mystery, with no festive link to the original 1926 novella, Rhapsody: A Dream Novel. Some writers, like Brianna Zigler, have theorised that this is Kubrick’s anti-consumerist critique of what Christmas has become —a solid take.
Eyes Wide Shut is far from a reflection of the festive spirit, but if Die Hard is now classed as a Christmas film, then so is Kubrick’s swan song. In many ways, it’s the perfect anti-Christmas film, exploring a family breakdown at the “happiest” time of the year. Disturbed by the sudden sexual revelation of his wife (Nicole Kidman), Dr Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) struggles to move past the recurring mental image of her with another man. Here, his obsessions eat away at his soul as he embarks on a trip into a secret psycho-sexual Manhattan fantasy.
Eyes Wide Shut remains fascinating because everyone seems to be in on the joke of Harford’s meaningless exploration, except for Cruise. Kubrick almost appears to be playing the grandest trick possible by tormenting the character and the actor in unison. However, while Cruise’s serious performance shouldn’t work, it does.
Eyes Wide Shut would push Cruise and Kidman’s relationship to the brink with a mammoth 15-month production; in fact, many have since argued that this was the point at which their marriage became impossible. Was this Kubrick manipulating the boundaries between reality and fiction, using Kidman and Cruise as his pawns? We will never know what Kubrick had in mind during filming, which may be why Eyes Wide Shut remains a fascinating but uncomfortable watch.
Why Kubrick set Eyes Wide Shut during the holidays remains a mystery, with no festive link to the original 1926 novella, Rhapsody: A Dream Novel. Some writers, like Brianna Zigler, have theorised that this is Kubrick’s anti-consumerist critique of what Christmas has become —a solid take. However, you could also read this as a Kubrickian take on a Christmas romp that celebrates Kubrick’s dark sense of humour and disposition for psychological drama. Either way, Eyes Wide Shut remains an enigma wrapped in fairy lights and sex, a darkly delicious finale from a cinematic and artistic genius.
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