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In his latest output, indie
superstar Steven Soderbergh brings us Unsane,
a tightrope-tense trip of a psychological thriller that presents two terribly
frightening ideas, and I can’t decide which is scarier: being unjustly trapped
in a mental ward? Or actually being crazy enough that commitment to said ward
is justified, in spite of a life that indicates otherwise? Okay, in the context
of Unsane, the protagonist isn’t
exactly held against her will, but it sure feels like it…at first, anyway. But
how could you blame Sawyer Valentini (Claire Foy) for believing she’s being
involuntarily committed?
Everything seems fairly normal
at first: she’s working a new job in a new city, far from home, and apparently
is pretty adept in her trade. Yeah, her boss turns out to be a bit sleazy, but
Sawyer seems to be able to handle herself. She meets a guy at a bar, they seem
to hit it off okay, but things take a strange turn when she brings him into her
apartment just to kick him out. Something is not right with her. Allegedly, she
was a victim of stalking, but she realizes that she needs help to overcome this
and goes to a therapist. Yes, she is depressed and has the occasional suicidal
ideation, but who doesn’t go through this when they’re miles away from home and
starting a new chapter in their lives?
She signs some paperwork to
take the next steps in getting treatment, but things take a strange turn: her
belongings are taken from her and is dressed in a hospital gown, much to her
confounded fright. Come to find out the paperwork she signed states that she
will remain in the mental ward for the next 24 hours. She’s furious. She has a
violent scuffle with a fellow patient as well as with one of the orderlies. Her
24 hour stay has been extended to 7 days. In an already excruciating position,
the situation is made worse for Sawyer when one of the nighttime orderlies,
George (Joshua Leonard), is actually her stalker – according to Sawyer, anyway.
But who in their right mind would believe a word Sawyer says?
There is a stroke of tragedy
throughout Sawyer’s predicament. This is not a film that contrivedly exploits
insanity for cheap thrills. Unsane looks
on with a certain level of empathy for Sawyer, which is channeled through Foy’s
performance. She gives the character a naïve sense of confidence that turns
into nervous vulnerability. The situation presents an interesting double-edged
sword: this mostly normal woman did nothing to deserve this, but then we look
on with melancholy at her steep descent into pure madness. Her fault for not
reading the paperwork that got her into this? Yeah, but who can blame her when
she’s been led on by warmth and understanding from those listening to her? This
is made all the more tragic when she finds out she might be trapped for a very long
time. It is discussed that this might be a big scam: allegedly, organizations
like these vacuum all of a patient’s insurance money, subsequently releasing
the patient when the insurance runs out.
Or is this real or just a
paranoid delusion? If you ask me, much of horror’s greatest achievements work
when human drama sets the foundation. Take, for instance, the dysfunctional
family in The Shining, the desperate
mother and endangered child in The
Exorcist, or the dissolution of marriage in Possession. As much as a tragedy Unsane is, it still works equally as well as horror. Fairly
quickly, it becomes evident that we cannot trust Sawyer’s perception of the
world as she becomes crazy, and we rarely step out of her perception (as far as
I’m concerned, the entire movie should never step out of her shoes – more on
that later).
The tension is further boosted
by the visual style, and it was inevitable that I’d mention this. Taking
advantage of the possibilities set in the outrageously wonderful Tangerine, Unsane was shot entirely on iPhones. Unlike the former, Unsane is disturbingly reserved in its
visuals. Nothing but static, unmoving shots that always have the entire set in
frame. The stillness and open space further cement Sawyer’s vulnerability. More
unsettling is the jittery grain of the image as a result of the iPhone medium.
Unsane isn’t a complete success. With the exception of Foy and Jay
Pharoah, who plays Sawyer’s saner friend in the ward, the performances leave
something to be desired, especially from Joshua Leonard, who doubles as the
soft-spoken orderly as well as a manifestation of Sawyer’s ultimate delusion as
her stalker. There is an emotionally climactic scene where Sawyer confronts the
stalker, named David Strine. Though not laughable, Leonard’s attempt at emoting
is not something to write home about.
A bigger issue are some of the
plot holes in Unsane’s home stretch.
One might say that Unsane isn’t meant
to be completely understood, being the insane trip into an unstable woman’s
mind. I would have preferred if the movie were purely this, but while 90% of Unsane is said trip, the remaining 10%
occasionally bounces back into reality and reveals what’s actually going on.
Because the film is concerned about reality, these plot holes just make the
madness more frustrating when it should be more poignant.
I also think Unsane juggles a bit more than it could
handle. While dealing with issues of insanity very well, but also stepping into
loneliness, the stigma of mental illness, and the shamefully scam-driven world
of bureaucratic medical care. Interesting topics, but only briefly brought up
and never followed through.
While he’s never been one of
my favorites, I commend Soderbergh greatly for his versatility: both in terms
of theme and style, he has never made the same movie twice, and Unsane further proves my point. Maybe
not a great film, but it is a fortuitous examination on a tricky subject as well
as a pulse-pounding and effectively disorienting thriller.
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