Unsane

Have to be honest, I had no idea this was filmed on an iPhone 7 or that it was directed by Steven Soderbergh. I was stuck for something to watch on cable the other night and I liked the sound of the plot premise. So unburdened by expectation of a searing horror classic I settled in to see what unfolds.

Plot has Claire Foy as Sawyer Valentini who inadvertently commits herself to a mental health institution. Once inside things being to unravel and the threat of her one time stalker now being even close to her opens up the book of terror - but is it real?

Firstly you have to say that the mental health authorities must have had kittens when they saw this, much of what is on screen is utterly ridiculous and paints the system in a damning light. Secondly you really have to jump on board with the improbability of it all, this really is made for dramatic entertainment purpose and not as a viable horror of the real world.

As a thriller it worked for me, the constant question of what is real or not keeps things on the slow burn. Either way, real or not, it's thought provoking enough to warrant staying till pics end. The psychological angle is pungent enough to say there's some thought in the writing, though this is undone by utter nonsense as things spiral into the impossible for the final quarter of film.

Foy is good value up front and the fulcrum of it all, while elsewhere good work comes from Nate Hoffman and it's nice to see Juno Temple in a spicy role. Ultimately this is no blood letting horror picture, and certainly it's no One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Girl Interrupted etc etc.

The iPhone experiment is a gimmick that works here due to the confines of the location for story, but as a genre piece of worth it is unlikely to have legs. However, even though I enjoyed this as a one time only viewing experience, I perfectly understand why it has become divisive. So for those who haven't seen it yet then it is advised you understand this is no terrifying thrill a minute piece. It's tricky to recommend with any sort of confidence, and thus I feel the internet ratings of about 6.5/10 is just about right. 6.5/10

There's a part of me that absolutely adores it when a filmmaker goes the experimental route and tries something that's never really been done before.

And while this isn't the first time this sort of filming technique has been used for a film, I had to say, I was rather intrigued when I was sitting down for "Unsane", the new film by Steve Soderbergh ('Ocean's Eleven', 'Contagion', 'Magic Mike').

To explain: 'Unsane' was entirely filmed on an iPhone 7 camera in only ten days, which is incredible in that it was made entirely in secrecy by a big name director such as Soderbergh. The budget also barely pokes over $1 million total. By all accounts, this is as INDIE as a big name director can get.

So you probably will start asking yourself: "How does it look?"

To me...I think the film would have been LESS interesting if it was filmed in the typical method of high quality digital cameras. I know I always use the term "nightmarish" to describe claustrophobic cinematography in films, but this film looks like a NIGHTMARE. Fluorescent lighting and angles look warped and distorted, as if our characters are living in a German expressionist film, close ups look terrifying as we see every emotional detail of these characters in sketchy quality that only a phone camera could really capture in full. The whole film looks like a fever dream, and unlike 'Tangerine' (The first feature film to be filmed on an iPhone), this film truly has a "reason" to be filmed in this style.

To me, the experiment Steve Soderbergh tested here WORKED. The cinematography is its own style, and when a film can define itself with that sort of technique, it has certainly succeeded.

Going hand-in-hand with this great cinematography is the surprising performance by Claire Foy, who is admittingly quite good in her role of a person you have to decide if you think is crazy or not crazy. She does have a few slip-ups where you can hear her British accent come out...but other than that, she is a convincing central character and I bought every emotion coming out of her.

So it probably sounds like I really enjoyed this film thus far, correct?

The problem is, I enjoyed the first TWO-THIRDS of this film. After that, I think this film absolutely falls apart and loses everything I thought it had going for it.

A certain sequence in the film that looks absolutely SPECTACULAR is really the last time I connected with the film before a certain plot detail and twist begins to make itself apparent. As it began to unfold, I thought "There's no way they'd go with something THIS stock and basic..."

Unfortunately, they do, and by the time the film is running-down its last 15-20 minutes, my intrigue had been sapped and I was left simply to watch a film that was going through the motions. A crime that films can commit is being "Bad", for sure, but a worse crime a film can commit is being "Boring". The third act of this film is guilty of exactly that. It's stock and went exactly as I predicted it would, which truly hurts.

And let us discuss THE ENDING, which I think may be one of the worst of the last few years, right alongside 'The Devil Inside', 'Skyline' or 'The Florida Project'. The ending is such a sloppy and slapdash piece of cinema that I really wonder WHY they even bothered to shoot it. It's boring, cliche, has yet to really make much sense to me since I saw it (I saw this film on Tuesday, by the way...), it looks TERRIBLE in comparison with the rest of the film, and leaves us on a freeze-frame shot that looked completely unplanned and clearly done as a way to say "Yep! That's the end!". While I could've seen something more developed working in a similar vein, this just felt awful and like a last-ditch effort to end the film in an 'unresolved' manner, which this film never had the course for after its third act. Simply awful.

In the end, I left this film feeling extremely disappointed, really. I was enjoying the film quite a bit up until a certain point, where everything just seemed to fall into the pits of the cliched and been-there-done-that. Perhaps it was partly my fault for expecting more out of a film that promised a unique look and story about sanity, but in the end, I can blame the film as well for squandering such an incredible opportunity to make an interesting psychological thriller/horror film with such a weak third act. It PAINS ME that this film couldn't be good all the way through.

...THAT SAID...I really cannot say enough about the cinematography in this film. Steve Soderbergh's work in this (Yes, he directed AND filmed this!) looks absolutely stellar, even for an iPhone camera, and makes it worth seeing just for curiosity's sake alone. I feel it works far better than it did for 'Tangerine', and clicks with me on a level that it puts you in the perspective of our protagonist, who is struggling with her sanity in a place that is a proverbial nightmare. The film looks like a bad dream, and in the end, that appealed to me on that level of loving to see experimenting in film.

It's just a shame that the intriguing experimentation meant a sacrifice for an intriguing story and third act. This could have been a far better film than it was. In the end, it lands somewhere in the middle for me...though I REALLY wish it didn't...

'Unsane' seemed to me like it had real potential to be a good film. It looked intriguing, it was interesting to see how it would fare being shot on an IPhone (though part of me was a little apprehensive, being concerned it would be handled amateurishly), the trailer looked great, like Claire Foy a lot and the idea was for me one of the best and most unique of the year.

On the most part, while the polarising critical reception is more than understandable, 'Unsane' works. It is an uneven film and should have been better than it was with the final third and ending being a let down. On the other hand, much of it was very well done with a terrific first half that showed so much promise. Am going to hold nothing about those who didn't like it, being one who agrees with a few of their criticisms.

Starting with what 'Unsane' does right, it surprisingly looks good. Was worried as to whether the IPhone technique would be done in an amateurish fashion but actually it was atmospheric and surprisingly tasteful, enhancing the already unsettling claustrophobia seen also in the setting. The music is haunting and wisely not constant as well as never intrusive. Soderburgh's direction is deliberate yet tight, letting the atmosphere speak for itself.

The first half is terrific, slow-burning but creepy, subtly suspenseful and sometimes quirky, blurring reality and delusions with plenty of unsettlement, panic, claustrophobia and thoughtful representation of a difficult subject. The cast are on top form, the best thing about 'Unsane' being Claire Foy, mixing fragility, unhinging, sarcasm, insincerity and also sincerity it is a spectacularly good performance of an complicated character that one is scared of but also in a way sympathetic to. It is easy to overlook the rest of the cast, but they are also very good playing against type, Joshua Leonard, Juno Temple and Jay Pharoah do great jobs.

However, it is a shame that the film changes tone in the final third in particular and it is really jarring and the quality is significantly inferior. The film works better as a psychological drama/horror, while it turns thriller, it becomes overblown, rushed and far fetched. The ending is a let down, too easily foreseeable, anti-climactic and far too conventional for a premise as unique as this one.

Some of the dialogue is on the ropy side and Matt Damon's cameo was out of place, unnecessary and just plain weird, reeking of self-indulgence.

Overall, worth seeing. Uneven but with a lot of great merits. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Steven Soderbergh's 2018 psychological-horror film Unsane (2018), shot entirely with the iPhone in just 10 days, is an interesting take on the genre. Centering around a woman who is involuntarily committed to a mental hospital, we constantly are in a state of questioning whether or not she is really as crazy as we are led to believe. The choice to film it on merely iPhone lends an incredibly unique look and feel to the story, often seeing people from POV shots and bizarre angles. Coupled with the ambient music, the film is incredibly atmospheric and invites you to see things from the perspective of Claire Foy's character. Unsettling, well-acted and uniquely directed but so-so in the execution of the story. Nonetheless, a cool experiment from Soderbergh.

While its grammatically-challenged title is just as likely to test your sanity as anything in the film itself (perhaps by design, I'll add), Steven Soderbergh's second return from retirement seeks to 'change the game' and prove that you don't need a proper camera or fancy lighting to make a film, just an iPhone, a decent script, a competent cast and crew and, most importantly, the will, time, money and passion to do it all. Luckily, 'Unsane (2018)' has all that in spades. It could easily pass for something shot on one of those fancy cameras and actually has a tangible and, appropriately, an almost 'followed-around-with-a-camera' stalker vibe to it. It's a wonderfully frustrating, rewardingly claustrophobic and tensely insular experience that sticks you right in the slightly off-kilter head of its protagonist and does a great job of making you feel exactly the way she does at every moment. The pace is almost perfect, as we're dealt a number of blows every time we begin to get comfortable in each new situation, and the slow descent from slightly strange to straight-up sinister is a palpable and uncomfortable one. The fact that the sanity of the hero is called into question is a great move, though it isn't pushed quite as far as it perhaps could have been, and it keeps you unsure about everything you see. The nods back to classic seventies horror, including a soundtrack reminiscent of 'Halloween (1978)', were appreciated as well. I was constantly on the edge of my seat throughout this gripping, agitating, intriguing and generally very entertaining thriller. 8/10