Peacock

This odd mystery from co-writer and director Michael Lander is lumbering and obvious at times, but it’s also a strangely compelling mood piece that deserves better than this unceremonious straight-to-DVD dump. Cillian Murphy plays a fidgety Nebraska bank worker named John Skillpa who conceals his second life as a female named Emma from his curious neighbors and co-workers. His carefully structured existence is uprooted when a train crashes into his backyard while he’s dressed as Emma, who the townspeople (a little too easily) accept as John’s new wife. But there’s more to fear than mere homophobia—John comes from a family “with a long history of keeping to themselves,” and the threat of exposure awakens a barely repressed psychosis tied to disturbing memories of his dead mother. Susan Sarandon, Bill Pullman, Ellen Page and Josh Lucas offer perfunctory support.