A Cure For Wellness (2017)
I actually haven't watched any of Verbinski's horror films, which seem to get the most praise, in terms of his filmography, so I didn't know what to expect. But, I'm a fan of his action/adventure films, like
Pirates of the Caribbean, Rango, and
The Lone Ranger, so I was actually looking forward to it. This is a very well shot movie, and it looks great, just like the movies mentioned, but in a more minimal, less busy way that this one doesn't call for. It's also bonkers. Part gonzo social commentary, part dark fantasy, part psychological horror, it's all over the place, but in an enjoyable way. I've heard some mild comparisons to some other movies, like
The Shining, which I understand, it uses it seemingly horror shell as an outline, but does it's own thing, it definitely has it's own identity, though
It definitely delivers some scares, those really uncomfortable ones that really make you squirm in your seat. I feel like in a few instances they go out of their way to make it grimey when it sometimes doesn't call for it, but other than that it's all pretty effective. The acting is decent, Jason Isaacs is the best player there, he's an effective creep. I've always looked forward to seeing Dane DeHaan ever since I saw him in
Chronicle, and he starts out as this guy you love to hate, but slowly I caught on to the fact that he's not really that interesting. He plays the kind of character that they wrote specifically to reform at the end to go along with the theme of the movie.
The third act is both the best, and worst part of the whole movie. It does a good job of wrapping things up, and it's where Verbinski really lets the absurdity run wild, but it can sometimes be a bit much, and I think some of it can betray the film's vague meanings, and themes with the way it's handled.
Overall, it's a good time. It's one of those movies that'll be fun to rewatch just to make sense of all of it's nuttiness, and to come up with your own conclusions. It's long, and it probably could've been shortened, but one thing it's definitely not is uninteresting.
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Plus there were a few that i already loved.
Loved the panda mask and all the intensity.
Max Records is excellent.
