Kubrick's perfectionism can be seen in every frame of this film. His use of light and colour creates exactly the mood he wants, as every prop, piece of furniture or cut of a dress suggests something other. The control is absolute, nothing left to chance, nothing arbitrary, especially where scenes appear just so, not quite realised, arrested at the entrance, or chosen on a whim, without thought of consequence. You are never sure what is actually happening, what is real and what is pretending to be real. Harford discovers that by taking a step off the straight and narrow, he enters unknown territory where danger lurks at every corner.
Nothing is what it seems.
Pricked by an intense jealousy, brought on by Alice's revelation that she can make love to him while fantasising about a man she has never met, draws him toward thoughts of forbidden fruit and eventually, masked and cloaked, to a great house where every act of sexual deviance is played out in the public rooms. The Harfords have been happily married for nine years. Kubrick kicks the door down. It is a scary experience. Tom Cruise is perfectly cast here, as the dependable, professional, charming Dr Harford, who does not question machinations of sexual politics and conveys confusion when moral barriers drop with an intensity that feels pain.