There are few things more frightening in cinema than a well-composed, wide-shot. It's a blank slate on which anything could happen. Terror can enter the frame from any possible angle. And with the camera so far back, when something bad does happen, we the audience are helpless to do anything about it. We can only watch.
Todd Haynes was brilliant to adopt this aesthetic for Safe because even though the frame is filled with various sofas, walls and coffee tables, Carol is still effectively isolated. She is an alien in her own home and surrounded by things that could literally kill her. What is going to attack her next? No hyperbolic Requiem for a Dream editing needed. Trust me, you will never be able to look at a can of hairspray the same again.
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