"Delirium" is mostly a dark mystery with some parts resembling the supernatural: the tone is a mix of the playful, suspenseful, and secretive.
The story follows a 30 something man, Tom, who was recently released from a mental institution for something dark occurring in his past. He's to carry out the next thirty days under a probationary period—ankle bracelet to boot—with the catch being he's going to be all alone in his parent's extravagant mansion to prove he's a sane member of society. Munching kid's cereal and jamming to dated '90s tunes might not help his case. It might be his first chance at having freedom as an adult. Will it last?
In order to keep the mystery going at all times, a bulk of the experience is a shake-up of your senses with perceived delusions: Is this imagined, or really there? Strange characters appear and disappear faster than your friendly neighborhood ghost, except these manifestations may have ulterior motives in store for Tom who bides his time exploring the seemingly endless rooms and hidden passages in his all-to-himself home. He seems to take it on with a grain of salt by living life with no restraints or rules, except he can't leave even when things start to get weird.
Topher Grace, as Tom, plays the character as a sort of bumbling dweeb that's lacking in most social aspects, or even other more complex attributes, such as someone dealing with genuine solitude, or building up to white-knuckle retribution. He lacks a more layered mental health issue that would have given this some gravitating ambiguity, not just dulling its edge with a game of peak-a-boo mirages whenever the lights go out or he finds a new corner to explore.
No doubt, Grace is likable and brings a sense of fun with his boyish charm and reserved nature, but it's at the expense of creating a relaxed environment that tends to lose its grip when it comes to summoning its mental demons. It makes him go from a happy-go-lucky fool, to hiding-in-the-corner scared. While no one would second guess his acting with what he's given, it still doesn't make either angle challenging to a viewer. He eventually falls into a little bit of potential lust, and then some love, though it doesn't feel believable, but rather tacked on for drama's sake.
The biggest shortcoming of "Delirium" is that it has one foot in, one foot out to a share of the tones and plot points it throws at the viewer. While it's a somewhat smooth experience and mostly a well-rounded film, it's not something so pivotal that it jars the senses or becomes memorable, other than passing the time for some entertainment that glides on the surface without necessarily digging far below for a greater reward.
As far as psychological thrillers go, it fails to keep you on the edge of your seat; the overall experience feels like it holds itself back and pads itself out till a bigger pay off that isn't as groundbreaking as it makes itself out to be. It guides you with a guessing game as to what genre you're actually dealing with. Other films, such as "The Shining," or "Session 9," made the is-it-real, is-it-all-in-my-head angle work from an overall ambiance that backed you into a corner with no escape, and with more concrete or impressionable aspects to unfold in the story. "Delirium" is neither terrible nor outstanding, but one of those inoffensive films with some of its own personality to stay afloat.
By: JWBM
Rating: 5/10
Director: Dennis Iliadis (Hardcore; The Last House on the Left 2009)
Actors: Topher Grace, Patricia Clarkson, Genesis Rodriguez
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link
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