This is a satisfying film, released in 1999. It engages the eye, the emotions, and the intellect. The storyline is that Ruth (Kate Winslett) has gone to India and succumbed to the suggestive hysteria of a pseudo-spiritual teacher. Her Australian family pay a large amount of money to hire the expertise of PJ Waters (Harvey Keitel) to physically and psychologically recover her. Waters claims he is the world expert at 'exit counselling' for cult members, and uses a three-step process which involves the physical separation and isolation of the subject over several days.

The location shifts from India to Australian 'suburbia' in the outback, to the isolated half-way hut where Waters performs his work. These changes parallel the narrative plot, which has two strands. The first is Ruth's predicament, from both points of view: that of her concerned family, and of Ruth herself. Her mother goes to visit her in India with a pre-paid ticket for her return, and the lie that her father is dying. She herself becomes ill, and Ruth returns with her. This tension is the basis for the story: vulnerable young person lost to Indian cult. But what is Ruth's perspective?

The second narrative thread is Waters himself. The tension begins when his assistant has not appeared to help him with his work. We later learn that the woman in question is actually a younger and attractive girlfriend. Ruth's sister is smitten with Waters' and confides in him how she fantasises about film stars during sex with her boyfriend, seeking a glamorous escape from her more mundane existence. She projects these fantasies onto Waters as she complains "who's going to want me when they know how many guys I sleep with?", referring to her vivid fantasy life. She uses Waters in her own way, and he exploits the situation in turn, when she bends down and gives him a blow job.

The sexual tensions and possibilities of the mutual isolation of the two main characters are obvious. Yet they only appear as Ruth and Waters begin to interact in a fascinating psychological game. Waters gets Ruth to admit that her obsession with the Indian teacher was an attempt to resolve her psychological problems. Her vulnerability is revealed, and she seemingly becomes susceptible to Waters' tactics. Yet we also see that Ruth is vibrantly 'normal' and displays little reason for concern, other than a few strange remarks about the teachers' love, the possibility of her marrying him (which is 'symbolic' only), and reincarnation. She speaks these things as a strong, clear, attractive woman, not a brain-washed and passive victim. The deluded aspect of some of her remarks indicates youthful exuberance, rather than worrying vacuity. Her family's panic is perhaps unnecessary, that she is simply traversing an adolescent attempt at self-definition, away from family constraints. It is probably 'a phase' like any other adolescent rebellion, and should have been regarded as such. Her rebellion against conventional living is healthy, and she is not intimidated by the black eyes, black clothes, sunglasses, and (dyed) black hair of Waters. She lays stones out around the hut spelling out 'help', which is seen by the pilot of a light aircraft.

The next pivotal moment of the story is when Waters tells Ruth about his former marriage, and then how he was sexually molested by an Indian pseudo-spiritual teacher. We see his own psychological history, and how that underlies his present work. He accuses Ruth of being ungenerous and giving nothing back to people. Shortly after there is a scene where she is naked outside, upset. Waters comforts her in a professional way, but then succumbs to her insistent advances. In an extraordinary moment, the naked Ruth urinates as she stands, like an animal expression of fear and vulnerability and a token of sexual preparation and provocation. They embrace, and we move to the bedroom scene.

The psychological battle translates into sexual intrigue where Ruth has the power over Waters, and she taunts him about his older age. Waters' psychological work is mixed with a sexual battle for supremacy and control, where Waters is clearly the loser. His sexual needs make him vulnerable to Ruth's manipulation. There is a scene where she caresses another woman in a bar, similar to Basic Intinct. Like Michael Douglas, Keitel stares at Ruth in impotent desire and agony, as she enjoys lesbian caresses. In the background, the words of a song speak about someone putting " a spell on you". Enraged, Waters dances with her sister, which he said he would not do when she asked him. A moment later, Ruth is engaged with two young men outside, with her dress pushed above her bra. Waters intervenes like they are assaulting her, but it is actually for mutual enjoyment and we begin to see the extent to which Ruth is in control.

Like a case of Freudian projection and counter-projection, Waters becomes obsessed with Ruth and his desperation becomes the central issue as he literally grovels at her feet and suggests marriage, and their return to India. One of her brothers sees Ruth sleeping naked and suspects that Waters is sexually involved. They go out to the hut to investigate. It is a chilling moment, that feels like it could become seriously violent, as retribution for Waters' betrayal and unprofessionalism. There is no violence, but Waters suffers from exposure in the heat and is bruised and bleeding. The brothers drive back home with Waters in the back of the truck. Ruth gazes at the suffering Waters and wants to comfort him. A short while previously he had hit her, but what attracts her at this moment is his vulnerability and need for her. Ruth has worried about being heartless towards people, and is probably grateful to find it is not the case.

Both people return to their lives. Ruth returns to India with her mother and finds a boyfriend. He fathers children with his 'assistant' girlfriend. They correspond by e mail and Ruth declares that she loves Waters, for which he is grateful: he "wears it like a blessing". They seem to have a mature acceptance of their experience together, recognising the vulnerability of the other person with love.

There are several points where the narrative could divert into a study of the trauma of abuse and deception, and the political rhetoric of gender relations. It is to the credit of director Jane Campion that it does not do that, demonstrating a more balanced maturity where the psychological turmoil of people's lives is accepted for what it is, that people are more robust than 'victim culture' suggests. Both characters learn something about themselves from their intense experience together.