In a complex tale of interweaving relationships, a Greek immigrant in London explores the meaning of what it is to love and heal. Poised follows the story of Aris, a gay Occupational Therapist who carries the weight of a previous relationship gone wrong. Yet, a chance encounter with Richard seems to allow him the chance to love again. As Aris' relationship with Richard deepens, so too does his friendship with Anna, a patient in his care who suffers from a rare neurological syndrome that leaves her paralysed. Anna recovers the use of her limbs, but finds that she has come to rely on Aris for much more than just his support. In fact, her discovery that her husband has been unfaithful during her illness triggers the realisation that her feelings for Aris are romantic. The ties that bind emotion and propriety begin to unravel, and the tangled net that is woven will hold a secret that will catch them all.隆庆末年，皇帝病重，太子年幼，朝野动荡不安，皇后李妃下令召回已归隐故乡的女内卫沈双保护太子；殊不知一个巨大的圈套将沈双变成了行刺太子的逃犯，而且要至其于死地；一筹莫展的沈双为了弄清事实，便展开了一场找出幕后真相的历程。This film is an extremely entertaining psychological thriller with Carrol Baker excellent as a rich American widow getting away from it all at a secluded Italian villa. Enter smart aleck down on his luck playboy, Lou Castel, who has some golddigging motives behind his slick hipster seduction techniques and has no qualms about how he gets what he wants. He encourages Baker's character's incipient alcoholism and dubious self-esteem, brings in his supposed 'sister' to help drag Baker even further into a maze of sick mind games, drug addiction and group sex, all culminating in a descent into near-madness and self-destructive depravity. I won't give away anymore, suffice to say that the film delivers on its swinging sixties, Euro sleaze ambience and psychological suspense thriller credentials in spades. Director Umberto Lenzi's work has been, at best, uneven and he's churned out his share of crap. However, he made some quite good giallos and crime pictures in the sixties and seventies and this is one of them (other good films by Lenzi -- SPASMO, SEVEN BLOODSTAINED ORCHIDS, ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON, to name only a few). Unfortunately this film is ofen confused with another okay but not-quite-as-good Lenzi film that was also released briefly here in America under the same PARANOIA title (but is more commonly known, especially on video, as A QUIET PLACE TO KILL).
