By: JWBM
Now, imagine both protagonist and antagonist are unlikable and not what society would deem a "good" or upstanding person. You don't have this hero and villain story, but more like the odd versus the ruthless. In a sense, they're both relatable in that we're all just trying squeeze what we can from life, whether that's real or fantasized. For some it's nature in the woods with a one-sided love angle, for others it's rising the corporate ladder for power while stepping on some toes. Realism may ground us, yet some delusion may be healthy to ease the mind. What it boils down to, is there are certain rationale and motivations that separate us: some live entirely in Candyland, while others make appointments for dentists.
A woman who looks like a lady, but lacks in most social graces—candid, direct, and doesn't feign interest if not interested—finds herself in a new city at a new job. She's far from happy or making others around her happy, so she sees a counselor in an attempt to reconcile her past and why she moved away from everything she knew. In some sudden move, she becomes institutionalized—forget the Pepsi—against her will. She encounters one stressful and violating moment after the next, until she starts to act like a caged animal to escape, while simultaneously toppling her fears that make her edgy and distrustful. If there's anyone that can do it, it's someone like her: being capable of throwing coffee in your face, or slapping you at the mere opening of a door. She's not a princess or in anyone's voting roaster for etiquette committee, that's for sure.
What makes the overall experience somewhat disappointing, is the tone of the film is all over the place. It feels scatterbrain: where one motivation or thought would connect with the next, it's as if another person was read the gist of what was going on and attempted to pick up the pieces. From one person's personality and driving point playing leap frog, to even the music over top doesn't always seem to match the emotional context underneath. It makes the acting and editing in between scenes not always come across as a smooth transition. Being a thriller with touchy subject matter, you often feel uncomfortable for the story, and also for the jarring sense of disconnect to the characters and events.
This centers in a place where the mind is often held together by thin fragments, though instead of feeling real or even surreal, it comes across as believable as the message on a fortune cookie written over in pen. The direction and script attempted to juggle too many personalities, too many complex questions, and one too many genres in the same breath. It's one of those stories that you either fall under its spell or become disenchanted. While it's not a disaster, it's also not up there with other solid psychological thrillers such as "Perfect Blue"—that likewise deals with a stalker—or "Jacob's Ladder"—that deals with the fragility of the mind. Those films had subject matter that twisted and turned into a visceral, mutated mass that still managed to deliver in the moment by moment, while also being capable of holding on to its sense of logic, mystery, and suspense without losing touch.
Rating: 5/10
Director: Steven Soderbergh (Kafka, Traffic, Ocean's Eleven)
Actors: Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah
Info: IMDB link
Trailer: Youtube link
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