Safe [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

A suburban housewife suddenly finds herself "allergic to the 20th century," in this drama. Carol White is a typical upper-middle class suburban housewife. She lives with her husband and step-son in a lovely home in the San Fernando Valley. She is normal in every way as she socializes with friends, eats right, and keeps a good home. But she does have a nagging cough. The cough keeps getting worse and is followed by nosebleeds and violent seizures. The doctors are puzzled but conclude that she, like a growing number, has become hypersensitive to the chemical substances that surround us. Even a whiff of cologne can trigger an allergic reaction in Carol. To find treatment, Carol journeys to New Mexico and enrolls in the Wrenwood Institute, a New Age facility designed for healing people. It is headed by Peter, who promotes self-love.