Directed by John Cameron Mitchell. Starring Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, Dianne Wiest, Tammy Blanchard, Miles Teller, Giancarlo Esposito 15A cert, Cineworld, Dublin, 90 min

A couple grapple with the death of their child in this powerful if stagy drama, writes DONALD CLARKE

How do we know Nicole Kidman is upset? Nothing in her face – the upper half of which is now rigid as glazed porcelain – gives the game away. Walk into Rabbit Holehalfway through and you would have trouble telling if the Australian actor has just eaten a nice cake or is preparing for a trip to the guillotine.

What's that you say? Her character's son was recently killed in a road accident? Well, I suppose she mustbe upset then.

To be fair, there is no denying that, despite employing the same fraying trope used in The Son's Room, In the Bedroomand Ordinary People, John Cameron Mitchell's version of David Lindsay-Abaire's play packs a considerable punch. Kidman and Aaron Eckhart play Becca and Howie, a well-off couple coping badly with the worst tragedy that can afflict hitherto content parents.

Becca becomes withdrawn and refuses to entertain kindly invitations from neighbours and friends. On the surface, Howie seems to have adjusted more comfortably, but his constant need to view videos of the dead chid on his phone speaks of an inability to progress. They attend group therapy, but find the experience underwhelming.

Then, one troubling day, Becca spies Jason (Miles Teller, excellent), the young driver of the vehicle that struck her son. A queasy friendship develops.

Few recent films have been so successful in triggering excruciation. For much of running time, the sensitive viewer will feel tempted to plaster hands over eyes. Will Jason see Becca weeping in her car? He will. Will she wallop that young mother in the supermarket? She will. Will Howie lose it when he encounters Jason in his home? You bet.

The cumulative pummelling is undeniably draining, but, like much else in this talky film, these emotional set-pieces never quite escape their theatrical origins. Characters are forever “delivering speeches” instead of actually speaking. Aphorisms – long-held grief is like a “brick in your pocket” according to Becca’s working-class mum – stand in for recognisably human dialogue. The narrative structure seems overworked.

None of this is to suggest that Rabbit Holewon't get under your skin. It does, however, feel like a somewhat compromised beast.