Nothing easy about Una
Clever, disturbing and just a smidgen too slight, Una examines a kind of relationship not often seen on screen — that of a middle-aged sexual predator and his 13-year-old victim.
The man is played by Ben Mendelsohn, whose gaunt, craggy features get him a lot of villain roles, most recently as Orson Krennic in Rogue One. He bounces between creepy and sympathetic as Ray, who has changed him name to Peter after serving time for his sexual relationship with Una, played at 13 and with great conviction by Ruby Stokes.
We see young Una in flashbacks, including the trial when she told him, via one-way video monitor, that she loved him. But the film is set 15 years later, with Rooney Mara as the troubled adult version of the character. She’s seen Ray’s picture in a newspaper and tracks him down at work.
Thus begins a tense reunion, flashbacks interspersed with Una’s confused, accusatory questioning. Young Una was clearly a willing participant, but Ray just as clearly should have said no before anything happened. Instead, he keeps repeating his affection was specific to her, not pedophilic. “I was never one of them,” he says, practically spitting out that last word.
Now the adult Una has the upper hand, able to destroy Ray’s carefully rebuilt life, but uncertain if she wants to. And they still have feelings for one another, though the meaning of “still” grows more slippery the more you examine it.
There are no easy solutions or resolutions in David Harrower’s screenplay.