... Yes this could have been so much better and yes this is a horror film if you are willing to admit that women are and have been oppressed around the world... Yes, by men.

You have to be a woman to understand. Sometimes it's how you feel.

The young couple, is a husband, a bit of a snob who thinks he's above "animal" instincts and likes pretending he's British, with a "healthy" sexual appetite and a somewhat naive wife who very willingly gives in to her husband's desires and thoroughly enjoys herself - as it should be. Her husband doesn't appear to condemn his wife for enjoying their sex as much as he does.

She gets pregnant and almost dies in childbirth. Enter old prudish, Victorian, patriarchal "doctors", who are still barely more than witch doctors, who blame the wife for almost dying and cow her and her husband into foregoing sex, lest she selfishly die and leave her family. And what kind of selfish woman wouldn't deny her natural urges and sexual pleasure so she can continue to live and serve her man and child? Of course, hubby is told he's free to continue a sex life.

Hubby, wanting to believe he's above having sex with, um, working girls does want to continue sex with his wife.

Meanwhile, wifey, just like many modern women find that being mommy during the day and sexual vixen at night is a little much. Suddenly hubby's "healthy" appetite for sex is a burden in the face of this most wonderful creature she produced, who needs her way more than another adult and with whom she's fallen in love. Men come and go, but children are forever.

Meanwhile, hubby is h* as all getout, but husband's needs no longer weigh against the needs of her child.

She takes to making excuses to go to her daughter's room at night. But she also as great fears.

And here is where the movie starts to fail. The daughter actually seems well adjusted, without night terrors or even fear of the dark and so it's mom's fears without any reason that we can see. All wet get is yet another hysterical woman hovering over her children and uncaring men.

Eyeroll...

And that really doesn't serve the movie.

Give. Us. A. Reason. Only a hint is fine! But give us something to work with!

Why is she afraid? Is it, ingeneral because she knows what's in store? Because children often died (not to mention unseen threats, like that lethal Victorian wallpaper and little undseeable lethal microbes everywhere)? I mean one could die from one of those haughty paternalistic know-everything doctors not washing their filthy hands.

And watch out! Hubby can also send you off to the loony bin on his say so!

So, without any friends or recourse and the constant threat of death, and without a husband who understands, or the ability to seek comfort from hubby lest it turn into an unwanted romp in the hay, poor Con starts seeing things in her daughter's bedroom that appear to be those unseeable lethal microbes, which take on a man shape threatening the daughter.

Daughter sleeps on, unfazed while mom gets crazier and crazier.

Finally, her sanity is saved by a would be con artist with a heart of gold. A much needed genuine friendship is formed and Con hatches a plan to finally get rid of the gory bestie that only she can see.

This movie would have be great in better hands. It could have hinted at much more. Personally, like another reviewer, I think daddykins was willing to seek any port in the storm for his "beastly" desires, but Con couldn't quite conceive of such a monstrosity... Sensed it, yes, but couldn't conceive of it and so a beast was born.

What do you think?

The movie is not a ghost story but is quite intriguing. It explores the morals of sexual behavior in Victorian England and the main character Constance who after a difficult childbirth is discouraged by her doctor's to have any more children even to go as far as not having sex at all. Its seems she slowly goes insane but very overprotective to- words her daughter. She sees germ like creatures floating around her daughter's room which only she can see and almost burns down her house trying to destroy them. Is it the guilt of not having a sexual relationship with her husband that driving her to invent these creatures? It is a very strange movie which you're going to enjoy or hate I personally enjoyed it. Constance's final act of madness in which she makes love on the bed with the creature ends in her husband's death. It's not a fast paced movie but you do get caught up in the life of Constance and her slow descent into madness or another scenario can she actually see the germ like creature and nobody else can, you'll have to decide.

Truthfully, I found this one a little difficult. In all the fundamentals of its craft this is terrific; the production design, art direction, costume design, hair and makeup, lighting, cinematography, and effects are each absolutely marvelous, a feast for the eyes and furthermore realizing Victorian London with stark richness. The fabulously detailed visual presentation alone is superb and lends substantial value to the film - as is also the case with the acting. It's a swell cast assembled here, and they all give strong performances, not least Jena Malone who from a very young age has proven again and again the nuance, range, and skill she possesses. If nothing else is true about 'Angelica,' Malone is outstanding here, commanding the primary role as if she were born for it. I'm further wonderfully pleased with Janet McTeer's warm, steady acting as Anne Montague, breathing splendid life into a supporting role that's written with tremendous heart and wit.

All this is well and good. Such advantages, however, great as they might be, do not carry the picture in and of themselves. This is a little hard to swallow from the outset, what with the historical and period-appropriate but nevertheless extremely ugly prominence of antiquated values: classism, sexism, moralizing snobbery religious and otherwise, dashes of racism, animal cruelty (a content warning is necessary for the latter), all of which is in some manner geared toward pushing down women and reinforcing patriarchy and the notion that "it's a man's world." Abiding these as we can for the sake of the feature, more significant is that plot development feels all too loose and scattered for a preponderance of the runtime, going nowhere fast. Lovely as the visuals may be, so soporific is the advancement of the narrative that I actually did fall asleep at one point while watching (I at least had the foresight to pause). Only very slowly does the story solidify, communicating the paramount importance of those same noted themes after all - yet that solid state is less a singular dense ball than it is a hollow holiday ornament, the type that resembles a cage with a bell or some other doodad inside. At its most complete, the substance 'Angelica' has to offer still doesn't feel like it.

It's a little creepy at times, or infuriating or emotionally investing as we readily sympathize with protagonist Constance. Not least in the character of Anne, there is also light here. All the best strength the film has to offer, though, seems insufficient to elevate it to a higher level. My predominant sentiment is that I want to say I like this more than I do on account of Malone and McTeer, the intelligence and sincerity in the writing, and the hard work of all those behind the camera. But somehow there's a breakdown here between filmmaker Mitchell Lichtenstein's writing and direction, such that the latter struggles to give impactful, meaningful shape to the former. This is regrettable, since I know what he's capable of; 2007 horror romp 'Teeth' was genuinely brilliant as it in some measure explored similar territory from a different angle. Maybe the more restrained approach to 'Angelica' resulted in overcompensation? In any event, I still look forward to what Lichtenstein may do next, and it's not that this is bad - it just doesn't achieve the desired effect, I don't think.

This is most recommendable if you're an utmost fan of someone involved. I do also believe it's worth watching on its own merits. Any suggested viewing is necessarily paired, however, with the caveat that the whole is lesser than the sum of its parts, just not entirely coming together with all possible success. I ultimately like 'Angelica'; would that it had achieved in its storytelling what it did in its film-making.