Todd Fiel (USA)
For much of its length, In the Bedroom is a beautifully observed and impeccably controlled treatise on the nature of grief. It has an hourglass structure that slowly builds to two separate explosions of violence - the first physical, when a young man (Nick Stahl) is killed by his lover's estranged husband; the second emotional, when the victim's parents (Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson) finally confront each other and their residual anger. In an assured feature debut, director Todd Field charts the psychological ebbs and flows with a sensitive eye and at a measured pace. He has the confidence both to sustain long silences and to let key dramatic moments unfold off screen, forcing the audience to draw on their own imaginative resources. The only problem doubles as a major liability: In the final 20 minutes, a climactic plot twist rings totally false, betraying much of the credibility the film worked so hard to build. - R.G.

(Sun. Sept. 9, 9:30 p.m., Elgin; Mon. Sept. 10, 9 a.m., Uptown 2)