She has two great speeches in the film that are delivered with a stoic sense of realism. It's definitely the strongest performance by an actress so far this year. Sydney Pollack, who's usually known for his directing, turns in a solid supporting performance as one of the Harfords' friends. And Rafe Szerabadja successfully emits a shady vibe as a costume-shop manager. As in all Kubrick movies, Stanley himself is a character too, albeit one you can't explicitly see.
Soft light envelopes the film.
The atmosphere of the scenes between Cruise and Kidman throws a sense of claustrophobia on the audience. It includes some frightening imagery and costumes that will be burned into my head forever. But it also includes some digitally inserted characters, planted only to appease the MPAA by shielding sex acts. By becoming voyeurs along with Bill, not being able to see everything he sees lessens the impact for us. And nothing is going on that hasn't been seen in a mainstream film before.