[Amy] Nicholson astutely connects Eyes Wide Shut back to Interview with the Vampire through their intentionally strained eroticism, which serves to acknowledge the films’ respective true theme of the capitalist power that lingers under the superficial sexual roleplay. This, in turn, underlines the great irony of Cruise’s career: that his weirdest and most original performances, particularly in these two films, are often panned because they entail subtly blunt trickery that involves the deliberate assumption of cold, alienating theatrical tactics that point inward toward their own inherent falseness. These are Cruise’s most daring and revealing turns, rather than the obligatorily “relevant” performances that often win him praise.