Early in prep, director Jean-Marc Vallée kept telling his go-to cinematographer, Yves Bélanger, to go darker and darker on their HBO psychological thriller, “Sharp Objects,” by underexposing the light.
It was a new experience for Bélanger, but a pivotal one, which opened his eyes to a new aesthetic on the miniseries from showrunner Marti Noxon that was adapted from Gillian Flynn’s novel.Intuitively, it made sense.
The miniseries delves into the traumatic memories of alcoholic journalist Camille (Amy Adams), who returns to her small town in Missouri to cover the murders of two teenage girls, only to slowly discover a horrifying link to her own dark past through flashbacks.
Reminders occur everywhere, through the associations of objects, reflections, the trick of the light, and other sense memory jolts.
The dysfunctional relationship with her domineering, socialite mother, Adora (Patricia Clarkson) is merely the kickstart for the more toxic atmosphere that inhabits the not-so-sleepy Wind Gap.
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