At times, taking a voyeuristic look at a wealthy and twisted family can be a terrifying but hypnotic experience; you don’t want to look, but you cannot turn away.  Savage Grace, the new film applying that microscope to the wealthy Baekeland family – and the eventual murder of wife Barbara (Julianne Moore) by her son – carries with it tremendous promise.  But its attempt to remain detached from the otherworldly fog that hovers over the family keeps the viewer completely detached as well.  And the movie suffers for that.

Barbara is a former department store clerk who has married into the family, to Brooks (Stephen Dillane), who is going to inherit the estate.  From the very beginning we see how highly she values the social circles the family travels in.  While Brooks shows disdain for social trappings (and mentions feeling like a “monkey” for being scheduled to participate without consultation or approval), Barbara delights in them, and is constantly trying to manipulate one person or another into building a successful dinner or party.  Touched on only briefly is how Brooks’ grandfather was more interested in creating wealth and producing, while his father was the one who became bogged down in the world of European travels and glorified royalty.

Add to the mix their only child, Tony.  At first a spoiled momma’s boy, his burgeoning homosexuality drives his father away nearly as quickly as does his mother’s fragile mental state.  Eventually Brooks abandons the family in every way but financial, setting up house with a young Spanish woman who had originally been attracted to a teenaged Tony.  This crushes Barbara, more from the threat of losing her social standing than anything else.  Tony, meanwhile, continues to search for the fatherly approval he has never felt.

As the plot spirals downward into social taboos and insanity, we’re left feeling very little – if anything – for the family or its members.  By trying not to dig too deeply, Savage Grace misses its mark.