Labor Day is a 2013 drama film directed by Jason Reitman and stars Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. Based on Joyce Maynard's 2009 novel of the same name, the story follows 13-year-old Henry Wheeler (Gattlin Griffith), who is already dealing with the struggles of entering adolescence, but has extra pressure to look after his lonely, recently divorced mother, Adele (Winslet).

When her husband left her, Adele becomes depressed, lonely, and a bit of a recluse, but who can blame her? Longing for love, she doesn't expect what is to follow. Almost ten years after its release, we're still simultaneously drawn into and repulsed by this weird romance story. In honor of the generally unrelated holiday the film takes its name from, let's take a look at what the hell is going on with Labor Day.

A Murderer That Makes Perfect Husband Material

Labor Day movie
Paramount Pictures

Adele might be a recluse, but she still takes her son shopping for school supplies. Whilst shopping one day near the Labor Day weekend, they bump into Frank Chambers (Brolin), who is all bloody and stressed with a stomach wound; he is intimidating and pretty creepy, convincing Adele that he needs help and for them to take him home with them. Well, how could she say no, we asked sarcastically?

Straight away, they have the audience mystified by this extremely unrealistic reality, questioning what on earth is going through Adele's head, although when someone needs help, we can't always turn our heads. On this occasion, though, it was the wrong choice, and it quickly becomes apparent that Frank is a convict who has just escaped from prison and is the subject of a manhunt.

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As it turns out, Frank was actually serving an 18-year prison sentence for murder. He makes Adele take him to her home and ties her to a chair with a weird amount of seduction, with the direction making it feel like a romantic gesture. He explains that if they get caught, she is able to tell the police that she has been kidnapped. Essentially holding them both hostage, Frank begins to insert himself into their lives and has barely been there a day before basically taking on the husband and father role, which is insanely weird. Sure, he's not half bad at it, but it is extremely strange how quickly they become completely okay with an alleged murderer wandering around the house.

He Killed His Wife But Bakes a Mean Pie

Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet make pies in the movie Labor Day
Paramount Pictures

Frank begins baking pies, doing the laundry, and teaching Henry how to play baseball. The film starts presenting Frank as the perfect husband, despite him being a convicted criminal who is ostensibly holding a mother and her son hostage. Labor Day is filmed with a great amount of sentimentality and saccharine melodrama, like a Lifetime movie, with Adele and Frank developing a passionate love for each other as if this is a normal romantic drama. From the filmmaking to the music, cinematography, and acting, everything about Labor Day belies the fact that this is ridiculous and horrifying.

To give Frank the benefit of the doubt, it becomes clear why he was in prison for murder. Through flashbacks, we witness a younger Frank, who has just found out that his wife has been cheating and that his baby most likely isn't his. When he confronts her about it, the conversation gets heated and he pushes her, causing her to fall, hit her head on a radiator, and die. Ignoring the fact that he has pretty much held a woman and her son hostage in their house and weirdly integrated himself into their lives without their permission, he probably didn't deserve life in prison for physically assaulting his wife and accidentally killing her.

Adele is Desperate (or Insane) in Labor Day

Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet make pies in the movie Labor Day
Paramount Pictures

Frank is depicted in the film as having a lovable, paternal, and charming nature despite, you know, accidentally killing his wife, escaping prison, and taking hostages. The film simply doesn't see these as bad things, resulting in extremely creepy and odd scenes where Frank cooks delicious-looking food like chili and lustfully spoon-feeds it to Adele while she's still tied to a chair. Has no one questioned what is going on with Adele? Is this a romantic drama or a study of mental illness? If he actually managed to escape from prison, wouldn't she wonder how their relationship would even work? He's a wanted man who just turned up unexpectedly.

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Perhaps one could suggest that Adele is desperate; her husband left her, she is completely alone, so when a strong, handsome man who knows how to bake and cook comes swooping into her life, is great with her son, is affectionate, and even does the laundry, she jumps straight into it. Not only is that condescending and demeaning to women, but it's just a silly narrative decision. Surely baking pies doesn't make up for the whole murder/prison/hostage things.

Josh Brolin teaches Kate Winslet baseball in the movie Labor Day
Paramount Pictures

Essentially, there is nothing right about Adele and Frank's relationship; he might be 'the perfect husband,' but the way he went about it is still completely creepy. Yes, Frank brings Adele out of her reclusive rut, he is brilliant with Henry, and has actually created a new family out of them, but he is almost too likable, seemingly unaffected by his many years in prison and nonplused about the horrific situation he's created with this new, weird little family.

It was inevitable that in the end Frank would be caught, sent back to prison with an extra sentence for the kidnapping. Despite trying to convince the police that she wasn't kidnapped, Adele watches him get taken away. As we watch her heart break, it's clear that we're not watching a beautiful unrequited love story, but rather a mentally ill woman, worn down by desperation.

Happy Labor Day.