Chloe is essentially a remake of the French film Nathalie…(2004), which was directed by Anne Fontaine. Dr. Catherine (Julianne Moore) is a gynaecologist who is married to a college professor named David (Liam Neeson). The marriage between Catherine and David is slightly jaded – especially with respect to any intimacy. This colours their relationship with their only son Michael.
David misses his flight back from giving another lecture, thus missing the surprise birthday party given by Catherine. This arouses suspicion in Catherine – especially as David has a flirtatious personality with the opposite sex. Out of desperation she employs the services of call girl Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) with the idea of trapping her husband into having an affair and having Chloe report back to her with the sordid details to confirm her suspicions. As the plan is sprung Catherine is left distraught by Chloe’s disclosures of her rendezvous with David and a relationship develops between the two women, which will have devastating consequences for all involved.
Narrative is constructed much like a tragedy as an awakening of repressed emotions
The narrative plays more like tragedy than a total erotic thriller. We are led to understand through Chloe that her life – especially as a call girl – has had no exposure to true love and compassion just the use of her body to attain money granting fulfilment of shallow, fleeting physical desire. In other words her relationships function as “money for services rendered”.
