Paranoïa

Steven Soderbergh's 2018 psychological-horror film Paranoïa (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.

With most of Steven Soderberg's movies, he tells stories in a way that makes viewers unsure of what exactly is going on. Unsane is like that. The title indicates that the main character might be insane but also might not be insane.

Well, it turns out the this movie has an excellent title because that's pretty accurate summation of the movie. A bit longer summation goes like this: the main character might be insane but also might not be insane but some people think she is insane but she makes some erratic choices so she cannot convince everyone that she's not insane but maybe she does that because she actually is insane.

Sawyer Valentini (a strikingly unhinged Claire Foy) seems normal enough at first glance. She works a steady financial analyst job at a bank. She has a loving relationship with her mother. She goes on Tinder dates. But she's troubled by someone from her past, a man who has been stalking her for the past two years. She has difficulty dealing with the stress, so she turns to medication and therapy to cope.

In her conversation with a therapist, she casually mentions that she's had suicidal thoughts in the past. The therapist exploits this casual mention and tricks Sawyer into signing a waiver voluntarily committing herself to 24 hours of observation at the clinic.

Once inside, things become increasingly frustrating for Sawyer and even more so for viewers. She lashes out violently multiple times and ignores the advice of one helpful patient recovering from an opioid addiction, Nate, (Jay Pharoah showing off impressive dramatic acting chops), which subsequently gives the staff reason to extend her stay an additional week. Her inability to control her temper makes viewers wonder if she really does belong there.

That's as much as I can reveal without introducing spoilers. I can say that movie is a bit of a slow burn early on. Then the action picks up in a big way.

The story veers in a different direction, which causes some problems because we miss backstory that would have tied the story together in a neater, more affecting way. As it stands, the movie has a lot going on, but no part feels fully developed. Foy's lead performance and Soderberg's filmmaking keeps the film watchable throughout, but ultimately, it all feels a little unsatisfying.

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

I am actually a practicing clinical psychologist, and let's face it. The premise of this film is ridiculous. If you're to have a good time at this one, you'll have to set aside any idea of real mental health hospitals (even private ones) and just go with the story. About twenty minutes in, I stopped saying, "But that's wrong!" and "That's not right!" and just let the movie be a thriller/fantasia on the paranoid nightmare of involuntary commitment. After that, I thought it was quite an enjoyable movie.

If you require realism, you'll probably hate it, despite good acting, good pacing, and an enjoyably twisty story.

Shot completely with IPhone 7plus in 4k, steven soderberg's experimental b-movie is a real, slow and annoying psychological gesture throughout.

Eerie cinematography, unsettling atmosphere and curious characterizations take on U.S Psychiatric institutions deception makes it one of those crazy movies.