Many of Atom Egoyan's films revolve around truth that may be hidden in various ways. The Sweet Hereafter, Ararat, and Where the Truth Lies all have themes about truth. While Egoyan didn't write this film as he did those, his work as director of Chloe is still very much the same issue.

David and Catherine Steward have a marriage in which the passion has cooled over the years. They are certainly successful; she is a gynecologist, and he is a professor. Catherine is unhappy that David flirts with women. He calls it being friendly. It may say something that, when we first encounter David, he is giving a lecture about the opera Don Giovanni and discussing how many lovers Don Juan claimed. It may also tell us something that when we first encounter Catherine she is telling a patient who has never had one that an orgasm is just a series of muscle contractions.

After David misses a plane when Catherine has planned a surprise birthday for him, she suspects that he is having affairs. She hires Chloe, a prostitute, to set a trap for him and then report back. From that point on the facts begin to add up... or do they?

Since this is a psychological drama with various twists, the plot can't be discussed well without spoilers. Let's just leave it that the truth is much harder to find than we may think. We may also discover that truth can be hard and it can be healing.

The center of the film is the interaction between the two women. Chloe defines herself as someone who becomes whatever the person who hires her wants her to be. "I can become a dream. Then I can disappear." Is there something about her that longs to disappear? Is she so willing to take any persona because she cannot love herself? There is an irony to this person who is paid to supply some sense of love yet is really starved for that herself and seeks a love she does not understand.

Catherine is afraid. She is afraid of losing her husband. She is afraid of not knowing the truth. She may also be afraid of knowing the truth. Perhaps at the core is a sense of having no control.

That control is an important aspect of the relationship between the two women. Although Catherine has hired Chloe, there is no way to keep her under control. She is always going one step further than Catherine is ready to deal with. Chloe may adapt to everyone's desires, but she really maintains control over the relationships through that ability. By offering others what they want, she manipulates relationships. When Catherine tries to regain control, Chloe has already discovered the vulnerable parts of Catherine's life and begins her attack.

The search for truth has created so many lies along the way that it is only by finally sharing the real truth that David and Catherine will ever be able to heal the rift that has grown between them. Indeed in this case, the truth will make them free... if they can ever find it.