Opened eyes

Between being the best part of the blockbuster Beauty and the Beast on the big screen and earning critical acclaim for his trippy superhero Legion on the small screen, Dan Stevens has officially broken away from Downton Abbey’s Matthew Crawley mold. It won’t gain as much media attention, but his newest offering, The Ticket, further illustrates his adaptability as well as his willingness to take on low-profile but high-quality storytelling.

The indie production, premiering in limited release on April 7, explores the Scriptural warning that “if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Thanks to a pituitary tumor, James Harvey (Stevens) has been blind for decades and for just as long has been humbly crying out to God for healing. One day it finally comes. And with it comes the confidence to tackle the things James believes have been holding him back from seizing the true pleasures of life.

His initial alterations seem both innocuous and altruistic. He wants to be a more protective father, provide a better life for his wife Samantha (Malin Akerman). But his newly sighted assertiveness soon leads to aggression, and his opened eyes discover all sorts of new temptations to lust after, including a beautiful co-worker.

For all its explorations of moral issues, The Ticket isn’t a ham-handed morality tale. We empathize with James’ weakness, and the fault for his crumbling relationships isn’t entirely his. Samantha has been using his blindness to hide certain realities from him. Used to controlling the details of their lives, she struggles with letting her husband flex his atrophied leadership muscles.

The quiet, pensive style of director Ido Fluk won’t be for everyone. But for those with the patience to dive into an intelligent narrative that explores the fleeting nature of gratitude and the wages of covetousness, The Ticket will provide a welcome change of pace.