Peacock (2005 film)

Peacock is a 2010 psychological thriller film directed by Michael Lander, starring Cillian Murphy, Elliot Page, and Susan Sarandon. The film's screenplay was written by Michael Lander and Ryan Roy.

The plot revolves around John Skillpa (Cillian Murphy), a quiet man living in the small town of Peacock, Nebraska, in the 1950s. He maintains a carefully constructed, solitary existence. Secretly, John suffers from dissociative identity disorder, and has developed a female alter ego named Emma, who appears during certain periods of the day to perform domestic chores.

John's carefully guarded secret life is shattered when a train derails in his backyard, and the townsfolk discover Emma. To avoid exposure and maintain his privacy, John pretends that Emma is his wife. The unusual situation attracts unwanted attention from Maggie (Elliot Page), a young woman with a troubled past, and Fanny Crill (Susan Sarandon), the town's mayor, who has political ambitions that could be boosted by John and "Emma's" story.

As the truth of John's condition threatens to unravel, he struggles to maintain the facade and control his dueling identities, leading to increasingly tense and dangerous situations. The film explores themes of identity, secrecy, mental illness, and the societal pressures of conformity. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010 and received a limited theatrical release.