secret ceremony (1968). joseph losey.

completely demented and sick, this film requires for u to be the right kind of person to let itget under ur skin. the plot in itself is rather peculiar. one young girl who lost her mother (Mia Farrow as Censci) and one middle aged prostitute who just lost her daughter (Elisabeth Taylor as Leonora). they strangely find to each other especially due to extensive effort of Cenci and the degree of desperation of Leonora. Inside the 3rd major protagonist, namely the incredibly beautiful art nouveau mansion in Kensington which is more crucial than settings usually can become, they build a deluded world of role play n create weird and fragile temporary stability. much like it happens with every Glass Menagerie, this construction is bound to start cracking when the perverted step-father steps in (Robert Mitchum as Albert), at first hiding in the garden conveying the disgust caused by a filthy voyeur of the completely insane yet pure world of the two women. as the relationship of Cenci and Leonora is ushered into the light of the nightmarish sea holidays the breaking and the tragedy to follow is inevitable.
a very occult and dark film as this may be, and to some very tiring n weary due to the extremely well portrayed characters, it is surprisingly original. the ease with which the actresses manage to create this veiled insular world between them in a secret ceremony that is disrupted by yet another secret ceremony of the ring giving, their ability to convey the emotions of instable and terribly hurt beings who try to cling to each other in order to survive, the bold story plot that seems to spin masterfully out of control much as the protagonists do, it all makes the well expected and strange seem pretty unexpected  and familiar at the same time.
it is difficult for me to categorize this film since it ranges from horrifying psychotic to devastatingly fun to compellingly dramatic so i will just say it s a film that can change u forever.
try to get a version that has not been multiply butchered by Universal studios who were not pleased with the prostitute, with the lesbian theme, with the pervert stepfather n basically half the elements that matter anythg in the film.