Melinda is a striking beauty with hot Spanish blood running through her veins. She is an addict with a drinking problem, drowning her sorrows in alcohol, and leads a chaotic love life, cheating on her husband. Melinda swings Vic between emotional highs and lows, provoking his anger. At the same time, she understands that only this way can Vic feel even the slightest emotion toward her and give her the attention she craves. She is the object of his perversion—this excites her on one hand, yet on the other, it is the cause of her suffering.
Their relationship is built on a symbiotic bond where each fills the other’s emotional voids. She needs a "daddy" figure who will care for her, keep her in check, and prevent her from spiraling out of control, while her infantile behavior satisfies Vic’s need to express excessive care and control. A mutually beneficial arrangement, in a way.
Vic is a mature man who appears to be a reliable partner. But upon closer inspection, he is emotionally cold, and his jealousy sometimes erupts into uncontrollable rage. Vic has sadomasochistic traits—he allows his wife to hurt him but later inflicts pain on her in return. He tolerates her flirting with other men up to a point. Melinda, in turn, provokes Vic and watches his reaction, searching for any sign of indifference. What drives this behavior? Does Melinda want to feel desired and unconditionally accepted? Or is this part of their sexual game that fuels their passion?
The film also features Vic and Melinda’s daughter, Trixie. The girl’s questions to her father hint at deeper psychological issues: "Tell me how you killed him." Unusual questions for a five-year-old, don’t you think?
Melinda doesn’t take care of her daughter—she’s still a child herself. She gets irritated by the girl and ignores her.
Vic bonds with his daughter by giving her wine and encouraging her to drink with him. In another scene, Trixie plays with her parents’ sex toy while taking a bath, and Vic does nothing about it.
They torment each other. This is a textbook example of co-dependent relationships where both suffer. At first, divorce and taking the girl away from an unfit mother to be raised by her father seems like the sensible solution, but by the middle of the film, the situation becomes even more complicated.
