Jagged Mind

Well, I had actually never heard about this 2023 thriller movie titled "Jagged Mind" from Hulu, prior to sitting down and watching it. But that only meant that writer Allyson Morgan and director Kelley Kali had every opportunity to impress me.

But "Jagged Mind" turned out to be a rather bland thriller. Sure, the concept of the storyline, as written by Allyson Morgan, definitely had some interesting aspects to it. Just a shame that it wasn't properly utilized or delved further into. As such, "Jagged Mind" turned out to be a somewhat less than adequate thriller laced with some supernatural voodoo elements.

The acting performances in the movie were fair enough. I wasn't familiar with anyone on the cast list though.

"Jagged Mind" ran for 88 minutes, throughout which the narrative was just going straight out of a path without any turns, twists ups or downs. And yeah, that made for a rather bland viewing experience. Especially since you would be expecting something to get your heart pumping from a thriller.

While I managed to sit through the entire ordeal, this is definitely not a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time. Nor is it a movie that I will recommend for fans of the thriller genre to rush out and get to watch.

My rating of "Jagged Mind" lands on a four out of ten stars.

Billie- a lesbian art curator from Little Haiti- is stuck in a limbo, between her former lover; favourite artist; and mysterious new girlfriend.

One of which seems to have some suspiciously nefarious intentions.

Her former lover is toxic.

Her new girlfriend is clearly gaslighting her.

And her favourite artist seems to know more about her than she possibly could.

All of which comes on, as she begins to suffer from- what seems like- a progressively deteriorating neurological issue, that has her memory running in loops.

So...she's unable to rely upon her own recollection.

Putting her in a position where she doesn't know who to trust.

Some people in her life, seem to be trying to help her...while others are out to exploit her condition, in an attempt to manipulate her, for their own ends.

And it's not until the bizarre, villainous, twist comes around, that these convoluted series of events take on any sort of clarity.

With Billie, inevitably, taking the initiative to take fate back into her own hands.

As you might have guessed...it has something to do with Voodoo.

And an inherently toxic love triangle.

Though, why she particularly became the target...and what ends the villain is trying to achieve...are not exactly clear.

Unless, we are to assume, it's solely due to her proximity to their previous lover.

That being said, it's not an uninteresting story.

And it has an intriguing plot structure.

But it comes off a bit convoluted...especially at the beginning.

Before offering too straight up of an explanation.

Which kind of detracts from the element of mystery, in my opinion.

Though, considering it is only director Kelly Kali's sophomore feature...I think it will be interesting to see how she matures into a filmmaker going forward.

Because she definitely has potential.

But from an entertainment/engagement perspective...this one gets a "meh", from me.

4.5 out of 10.

Billie(an amazing Maisie Richardson-Sellers) is dealing with blackouts, vivid nightmares and struggling to keep her memories straight. What could be causing it?

This is a psychological thriller/horror about a gaslighting partner. It has several of the red flags: social isolation, emotional manipulation, bruises that raise eyebrows but are brushed off as nothing. It does a really great job exploring this, and it doesn't have a male partner: sad as it is, it is possible for lesbians to engage in this, there's nothing inherently masculine to it, all it requires is a power imbalance, and here it is based on race, class and wealth. I greatly appreciate that this story is lgbtqia+, because countless members of that and other minorities are told that it can't happen to them, as long as they're avoiding whites and men - while it would be wonderful if that were true, it simply isn't.

The cinematography delivers several striking sequences, including a long take, of the "people move themselves and stuff when the camera is off them" variety. Editing keeps things moving fast without getting flashy and distracting. The first 20 Minutes will have some people frustrated, so if that's you, I urge you to give it just a little more, like, watch the first full half hour. This runs 78 minutes without end credits, and 87 with. In my personal opinion, it is not padded. They clearly took great effort to avoid doing that. However, an argument could definitely be made that it could be at least five minutes shorter and that the reason that it isn't is the expectation for how long a full length movie is.

This features a moderate amount of strong language, non-male gaze erotic sexuality, and drinking, as well as a little physical violence. I recommend this to anyone that finds this appealing. 8/10.

I hadnt heard anything about this movie - Jagged Mind - so I went into it completely blind and I guess I figured out why this was the case.

To call this a horror movie is a stretch - even calling it a thriller is kind of a push. To me it was a drama, but anyway... the movie was very picturesque and modern looking with some beautiful timelapses and great use of lighting most of the time. The acting was mediocre and sadly there was nothing really there in terms of intensity to indicate that this was supposed to be a thriller/horror. Everything was just kind of slow-paced and rather boring actually (and I really don't use that term often).

Jagged Mind has a runtime of only 90 min but it felt like an eternity. There was definitely potential to be found, but in my opinion they didnt make much of it and there was nothing really there to keep you engaged.

Whether you are into thriller or horror movies I wouldnt recommend this one for you. You might be able to enjoy it if you are into dramas though.

Jagged Mind is a horror thriller that tells the story of Billie, an art curator who is experiencing memory loss and intense nightmares. Since her mother suffered from a neurological disorder she assumed that is correlated. One night, a stranger woman named Alex hits on her, but Billie leaves to a work event but ends up fainting. When she wakes up she's at the bar again with Alex having no memory of it. Trapped in a time loop Billie will have to find a way out before is too late.

The first 10 minutes of the film are the first time loop that Billie experiences. She doesn't remember anything of the previous time loops but takes different decisions each time eventually "breaking the loop". Unfortunately for Billie, the time loops will repeat themselves with different situations. The film jumps between what actually happened and what Billie thinks what happen during different encounters with Alex, her new girlfriend. Alex is an unlikeable character from the beginning to the end, making her moments on screen hard to put up with it.

The acting is average at best with no memorable performances. This triller, that doesn't feel horror, takes too long to get to the point for a film that has a running time of 1 hour and 27 minutes. Some scenes are too dark making it hard to distinguish what is happening. On the bright side, it's not predictable and the plot is easy to understand even with the back and forth of the events and time line. Jagged Mind is a triller to pass the time and a film to enjoy when there's nothing else to watch.