I went into this pretty cold. I try to tell myself I’m immune to most advertising, but I saw a billboard. I didn’t understand what the picture was saying. I didn’t know who the actress was (I incorrectly guessed Kate Winslet). But I saw the name Steven Soderberg, and the title suggested psychological thriller. This was a combination I was ALL about. I mean, it worked well for Side Effects.
The movie is about a woman who has just recently relocated to a new city for a new job. You soon find out the main reason for the life upheaval was to escape and heal after an intense stalker experience. When she goes to discuss her subsequent anxieties with a therapist, she finds herself involuntarily held at a mental hospital. As everyone is questioning her version of the truth, she herself starts to question what’s real.
Unsettling is really the more appropriate word to describe this film, on so many truly psychological levels. I just had this overwhelming feeling of helplessness watching this. Again, not being believed and not know what was real is a terrifying concept to me. Then there were some really close up shots that made it all the more uncomfortable (point where I make the obligatory mention of the fact that the whole film was shot on iphone). I feel myself gasping for air just thinking about it.
I don’t know that I’d seen Foy’s work before (I def haven’t seen The Crown) so I kept on thinking I was watching Sarah Paulson. I don’t know that that really has anythign to do with anything, just an anecdotal aside I felt like including. But yeah, as someone who loves a good psychological thriller, this was a good psychological thriller.
Last minute addendum, something I wanted to talk about that struck me during this movie. For part of the film, I felt infuriated. This was when they were exploring the consequences of her having a stalker. I was infuriated because why the heck should she have to drastically change her life because someone else has a deep seeded psychological issue they aren’t getting help for? Why does the system fail her so hard that there’s nothing to be done to protect her? That fury exacerbated the helpless feeling I had during the film.
Unsane – \m/ \m/ \m/ \n