User reviews

I really tried to give this move a chance. There are not alot of redeeming qualities to this film. The acting is very hit and miss, sometimes they will convey all the true emotions then it's equal to a bad soap opera. The special effects are extremely lack luster. The shadows are done will but that's it. I can't say more without spoiling it. You'll see what I mean... It's rough. The story itself is very bad. It falls apart quick and doesn't come back. One thing this movie does very well is make you think you have an itch on your head. All the main character does is scratch! This movie is something to have on in the background but don't expect alot from it.

The movie was OK, not great by any means, but watchable. The production value was decent. Other than Kelly Marie Tran, the acting was average. However her Ba, played by Toan Le, was also exceptional. The creep factor was also average. I never felt an overwhelming sense of dread, and that's obviously what the movie was going for. Just didn't completely land for me. Due to the limited budget, I imagine most of it went towards the lead actress and the SFX. Other than those two characters and central story, nothing else is really fleshed out. Although this was another one of those the metaphor-is-the-monster movies, this one actually had a real monster, though there were plenty of hallucination moments.

As far as the very negative reviews, you can kinda see the pattern. Bunch of incels rattled that an Asian woman has the audacity to get the lead role in a film. I guess this could bother me if I was twelve years old, but being an adult, this "issue" had no bearing on my ability to watch and enjoy the movie.

So in summary, an average movie that could be worth your while. There are literally thousands of poorer choices you can make in the indie-horror genre than this one.

I was not familiar with this 2025 movie from writer and director Shal Ngo prior to stumbling upon it by random chance. And the movie's cover was interesting enough to make me stop up and take notice. And since it was a horror movie, of course I opted to check it out.

The narrative and storyline in the movie is somewhat of an acquired taste. I doubt that this is movie that will easily find a widespread appeal with the general audience. The narrative is unique, and thus might be somewhat of a niche thing. I found it to be adequate, but "Control Freak" by far from one of the greatest psychological horror movies that I've sat through.

The acting performances in the movie were good. And it was definitely nice to see Kelly Marie Tran in the leading role, and she carried the movie quite nicely.

Visually then the movie was okay. The special effects weren't outstanding or jaw-dropping, but then again the movie wasn't heavily relying on special effects to carry its narrative.

Watchable for what it was, but I doubt that I will ever return to watch "Control Freak" a second time. I will say, though, that I would say you should check out the movie if you enjoy off-beat horror movies that deviate from the generic formula.

My rating of writer and director Shal Ngo's 2025 movie "Control Freak" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Even though the cover of Control Freak looks like a cheap SYFY movie, I was intrigued because it was tagged as body horror, and the ambiguous description gave me hope that it would be something special. The film's low ratings prepared me to lower my expectations, but I gave it a try nonetheless.

The story follows Valerie, a successful motivational speaker who becomes tormented by an unrelenting itch on the back of her head, causing her life to spiral out of control.

Visually, the movie is well-made, with strong cinematography and decent performances, though the acting felt uneven at times. Unfortunately, the story itself falls flat over its 100-minute runtime. Control Freak is apparently based on a short film, which I haven't seen, but I imagine the concept worked much better in a shorter format. The premise-where a protagonist is tormented by something unknown, leaving the audience to wonder whether it's psychological or supernatural-isn't exactly new. The only unique angle here is that the lead is a motivational speaker, which fits well with the movie's overarching metaphor.

The film did succeed in making me feel itchy and uncomfortable, especially with Valerie's constant scratching and the unsettling imagery of ants crawling around. I also genuinely enjoyed the third act, though the movie never really built up enough momentum for me to stay fully invested in Valerie's struggle.

If you have Hulu or another streaming service where you can watch this without paying extra, it might be worth a try. However, I wouldn't recommend spending money on it, as it doesn't offer enough to stand out. The pacing drags, and the narrative lacks originality, but it remains a watchable film with both its strengths and flaws. [5,4/10]

I recently watched Control Freak (2025), which was recently added to Hulu. The story follows a successful public speaker whose life revolves around her career, her boyfriend (a colleague), and her attempts to get pregnant. However, when she develops a persistent itch, her search for its cause uncovers dark secrets from her past. To find relief, she may need to confront her family and the truth she's been avoiding.

Written and directed by Shal Ngo (The Park), the film stars Kelly Marie Tran (Raya and the Last Dragon), Miles Robbins (Halloween, 2018), and Toan Le (The Sympathizer).

The premise had a lot of potential, and Kelly Marie Tran delivers an authentic, believable performance. However, the writing holds the film back. Both the pregnancy subplot and the family backstory feel underdeveloped, missing opportunities for deeper impact. There's a lot of itching-so much that it becomes unsettling after a while. While some scenes are effective and the CGI at the end isn't terrible, many of the film's resolutions feel cliched and uninspired.

In conclusion, Control Freak has a few solid moments and a strong lead performance but ultimately falls short. I'd score it a 5/10 and only recommend it with appropriate expectations.

Returning home from a trip, a motivational speaker in the middle of a tour finds that a seemingly benign itch on her head is spiraling out of control to the point of impacting her personal and professional life forcing her to investigate the issue's connection to her heritage to stop it.

Overall, this was a decent enough if somewhat problematic body horror effort. One of the finer points of this one comes from the solid setup that tries to provide a kind of intriguing look into the condition she suffers from. Setting this one up from the beginning as a confident, self-assured person with a full-scale career and the pressure she puts on herself to ensure that part of her is a success, the sudden influx of the irritating condition and how it starts to work its way through the body to the point where she starts to get thrown off her game because of it creates an interesting point to explore. With not just her work but professional life upended due to her husband being supportive yet confused by the situation and her parents' insistence on the cultural demonic entity from their homeland being the responsible party, there's a gradual increase in suspense and tension involving what's going on as the transformation starts to take shape leading to a strong and shocking finale. That's where the film does falter somewhat with the lack of malevolence attached to this concept. There are a few bits here involved in introducing the Vietnamese heritage as a means of explaining the condition by saying it's a manifestation of a curse affecting them for years but this is all surface-level exposition needed to give a name to the demon shown fleetingly. By giving more focus to the loss of control she has as the itch becomes more present and dominating the sense of control she has, it offers a more psychological touch that doesn't delve deeper into the situation than these few factors as the result comes across more like a short film stretched out into a feature-length adaptation. This is aided along by a bit of a misguided idea of trying to imply the creature itself is a manifestation of her psyche getting exposed questionably so the question of it being real or not is brought up merely to eat up screentime, but it still comes off well enough to be worthwhile.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.

It is really hard to make a horror movie of this quality. Kudos to the director and especially the crew.

It is a suspense / horror movie like no other I have seen in the last 5 years.

I really liked the back and forth between the core story and the history that brought this movie together. My thought at first looking at this was = "another cheap movie and that I would disconnect within 20 minutes of watching it". To my surprise, I was hooked from the get-go. I sincerely think that if you give your concentration and the thoughts behind it, you should truly appreciate this movie.

If you are of sound mind and really put your heart in it, you will understand the wisdom and effort that were put in the script. I will recommend it without hesitations.

There is a scene in "Control Freak" where "Val" (Kelly Marie Tran), sitting in her parked luxury sedan, removes a bandage from her head and realizes that the scar has not healed. She takes her phone and attempts to take a picture of the top of her head when she is suddenly set-upon by a fan of her work. Val, the female fan tells her through the car window, was directly responsible for helping the fan's mother suddenly quit a 30 year smoking habit. The irony, of course, is that Val's scar is the result of dermatographia- a compulsion she has to scratch her head incessantly.

It is this balancing act that sits at the center of "Control Freak."

On the one hand, Val is the epitome of the "American dream." A former Waffle House employee who used to live in her car, Val is now an up-and-coming self-help author, lecturer and influencer who lives in a palatial home in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. She lives there with her white husband/manager, "Robbie" (Miles Robbins) and is surrounded by other (white) assistants who are in her employ. She has, we might say, broken the glass ceiling. Her father, "Sang" (Toan Le), a former South Vietnamese soldier, also lives in the area. He is now a Buddhist monk. In fact, it was the need to obtain a copy of her birth certificate for a scheduled tour of Asia that led her to visit her father and take (without his permission) a key to a storage locker that contains family pictures and other items that set her memories in motion.

On the other hand, Val is clearly a woman who lives much of her life at odds with the image she wants to maintain. Her marriage is troubled. Her (seemingly) kindly father is not entirely trustworthy, though he is quick to offer his advice to Val. We learn that Val's mother suffered from likely psychological issues and died when Val was very young. And Val herself is quick to take offense, suspicious of assistance and is plagued by bad dreams - many involving insects and drowning sequences. She enjoys, if one can put it in such terms, her worldly gains alone: swimming, driving, walking through her large estate, etc. Sang opines that she in fact under the influence of a "Sanshi" or "hungry ghost" that consumes its host. This was inherited, he states.

The last half hour or so of the film turns, then, to Val's attempt to continue to project her brand, her image, in the face of the Sanshi. There are a few scenes toward the end that were a tad too arch for this viewer. (Watching the influencer unravel is a popular activity these days, I guess.). But the last ten are superb and overall even the arch scenes were insufficient to detract from the rather well-written script at work here. This really is a throw-back: It is a rare movie these days that is more "script-forward" than "camera-forward."

"Control Freak" is a remarkable entry. But it is also a slow burn and a character study. There are a few gory moments, but this is not really a monster movie or even a "ghost" movie (the poster does the film no favors: bugs really are not a material part of the film). I found it more in the psychological horror vein of something like "Images" (1972) or maybe "Possession" (1981). Tran and Le give excellent performances, and the story they depict is fairly unique: a psychological horror film exploring a Vietnamese-American female's attempt to bridge several worlds, with varying degrees of success. Highly recommended.

The premise of the movie is ok and it is clear the director and writer's fear trigger are sound, for everyone else it feels annoying. It seems to try to follow some formula that other movies try, but falls flat. Half way through you are just bored with the cheap effects and sit back to admire the decor in the home they shot this in. Clearly a favor to the director, but it's something to do while you struggle with the film.

First thing you notice is the quality of the video, it's a slight step up from being shot with somebody's iphone. The computer effects seem dated 20 years ago with some laughable jump scares.

The acting and actors, not sure where to begin. The main actress seems "fine", I'm sure she did her best with what she had to work with. You don't really care for her character, still not sure if that's on purpose. She is very plain looking and not very noticeable. I mean her no disrespect; but, she doesn't look anything special. If the point is to have somebody look like everyone else, I guess they nailed it. Her husband, looks 20 years younger then her, dresses like the neighbors kid who's favorite new thing is 90s rock bands, and doesn't exactly exude heterosexual. For a couple trying to present they're married and trying to have a baby, the illusion really doesn't come across. It would have worked better if she didn't have time for a personal life and just had this guy as a terrible producer or agent. Other characters are forgettable or horrible.

I'm not sure how important to you, but we were laughing at the costume choices and how the actors were dressed. The main actress looks like she is wearing grandma clothes or a nicely fitted table cloth. Not interesting, ridiculous. One scene the guy is wearing a silly jean jacket and in the other some 15 year old. It's usually not important but she is supposedly some high paid spokesperson that dresses like my grandmother's curtain.

The movie shots seem to be fine, long shots or angles I guess. Seems like if I'm going to trash everything, I should at least say it probably wasn't the first movie they've ever done. My guess is low budget hamstrings the production.

For HULU it's kind of laughable and somebody needs to gutcheck what they're greenlighting. If this wasn't the writer/directors first time for something semipro, perhaps they should focus on one or other. I wouldn't recommend the movie and about 38 min I couldn't wait for it to be over. They must have had a good editor and took every first take they could. From the actress literally eating her hair in a scene to the mirror falling on her back in another. Some how in this digital age they had to reduce costs by cutting corners.

I found that a greatest disservice an author can make to a struggling protagonist, whose struggle is amplified through horror is juxtaposing them against a backdrop of supportive sound boards. Sometimes it's necessary. However, here I see some interesting symbolism and it simply falls short in that backdrop. She comes across as one-dimensional, her partner is an idealized portrayal of a person incapable of suffering or harm, and her ignoring her assistant or a doctor considering the severity of her state comes across as forced. Portrayal disregards complexities women face and appears as a writer's limited understanding of their character. I do prefer horror with social commentary and I am not feeling that here.

The girl's acting skill can't keep up with the whole movie. She ruined the whole thing.

Do we expect a star wars actor to act like she is getting Oscar? I doubt the reason why she is chosen to be the lead. Given her weak performance in star wars.

1 star for the lead choice.

The sound effects are unsynchronized through out the movie. There are some good mystical musical music at the opening title. There aren't anymore pass the opening. What left are some boring jumpscare music.

1 star for the opening one.

The visual and camera position are good though, suitable for a psycho movie.

1 star for that.

The child clothing the lead wears, what the hell was those? Who's the prop designer? T-shirt, hoodie, shorts. Really? We are in Stranger Things now?

0 star for that.

Story telling is a mess as well. There is like no linkage at all between dialogs and between scenes.

0 star for that.

All in all, Kelly Marie Tran ruined it.

I stumbled upon this movie on one of these free movies websites, and knew nothing about it. The beginning was so good that I said to myself "Oh, finally a good film!", since finding a good movie to watch is very hard. Acting and quality of the film (settings, camera work, etc.) are good! After 30 minutes or so, my opinion about this movie began to change. The scratching and the ants started to become very repetitive and, thus, annoying. I hoped this film would be about a woman with psychological problems, or who can make millions of people happy, but not herself, or a motivational speaker who doesn't believe (or doesn't live) what she preaches and does that job just for the money and fame, or an influencer with a dark side, or exposing motivational speaking as a cult. Something like that. That would have been so interesting! But no. After taking too long to decide in which direction to go, the story took a supernatural turn, and not even in an intelligent, at least plausible way. It became just another cursed person movie, resorting to lots of (weird) CGI and with the main character doing lots of stupid things. Pity.

There's not a lot to maintain the interest. The metaphor is so basic it's not worth the effort. The acting is terrible with the exception of the lead, although she can't save the film from the bad writing and boring, hackneyed premise.

It's the same thing again and again.... Stilted family interactions, itchy head closeups, excruciatingly bad dialogue and acting from the husband, who is like an SNL parody of a husband.

Bad editing and over the top trippy effects do not add anything, they just make the film more and more irritating.

All in all it's a tedious slog with not much payoff.

It also suffers from a total lack of narrative.

This film crawled under my skin in ways I didn't expect. Control Freak follows Val, a self-help guru grappling with anxiety and grief after her mother's death. Her anxiety manifests as a disturbing compulsion to scratch her scalp, which becomes more than just a nervous habit. There's something living beneath the surface, and it's horrifying. The way the movie uses the parasite as a metaphor for mental illness was powerful. I found myself squirming through the intense scenes, especially as Val's sense of reality began to deteriorate. The practical monster effects and eerie sound design made every scratch feel almost physical. What really got me was how real the emotional horror felt. It's not just about the creepy parasite; it's about how untreated trauma can consume us from within. It's unsettling, raw, and lingers long after the credits roll.

I truly don't know if this is comedy or horror! The writer director and cast clearly thinks very low of tony Robbins and the material he's produced over the last 35 years to the point I think this is satire but played very seriously and poorly acted. The boyfriend of the female motivational speaker is an extremely weak actor with seemingly no life experience at all. The visuals are pretty cool but I feel like it's copying some other show or movie like this is very poorly put together and orchestrated. Definitely a stunt double for the nude scene. Very odd movie that doesn't move the meter much. I give this a 3/10.

Control Freak is a film that refuses to give definitive answers to what is shown, and I can see that alienating those viewers who prefer a cut and dried resolution, but I loved the ambiguity - I think that the uncertainty adds to the mystery and sinister atmosphere of the movie.

Kelly Marie Tran plays successful life coach Valerie, who is about to embark on a world tour when she develops an irritating itch on the back of her head that she cannot help but scratch. The condition becomes more severe day by day, but her life gets considerably worse after she visits her estranged father, and delves into her troubled past. Are Valerie's problems 'demons of the mind' or are they the result of a literal demon, passed down through the generations, as her father claims?

Tran puts in an amazing performance that sees her going from positive motivational speaker to utterly deranged, as the inner demon - real or not - takes over her life. Valerie suffers from hallucinations that also increase in severity, starting off with disturbing visions of ants, but culminating in the appearance of a wonderfully unsettling demonic creature that she is forced to confront. Is the wound in her head infected, causing her to see things that aren't really there? Has her childhood trauma - the death of her mother - come back to haunt her? Or is she really possessed by a Vietnamese demon called Sanshi? I cannot say for sure, but I definitely had fun with this film, which goes from initial slow-burn to totally demented at the end.

7.5/10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

This was a film that I found when searching for 2025 horror films. Since I couldn't make it to the theater at this time due to the birth of my second child, I'm checking out the ones that are streaming. The poster caught my attention. Looking into the synopsis and ensuring that this was horror, I was intrigued by this one. Other than that, I came into this one blind. I've also given it a second watch to see where I sat with it.

Synopsis: a motivational speaker is tormented by an unrelenting itch on the back of her head.

Let's start by introducing the lead character, Valerie 'Vy' Nguyen (Kelly Marie Tran), who is the motivational speaker from the synopsis. She is married to Robbie (Miles Robbins) who works on her public relations team. What we see is that she is successful. She came from nothing and is trying to stay at the top. This comes with stress.

Vy has an upcoming world tour. There is an issue that she needs to find her birth certificate for paperwork to go to Asian countries on it. Crystal (Callie Johnson) is her manager, needing this document to submit. The problem is that Vy doesn't know where it is. She goes to her Aunt Thuy (Kieu Chinh), who runs a nail salon. She finds out that there is a box missing and that she needs to seek out her father.

It should be pointed out here that Vy doesn't follow the religion of her people. She gets a letter from a nearby monastery, reminding to honor her mother. We learn that she passed away when Vy was a girl. It might have been suicide. Her father is a recovering drug addict, who is now a monk. He is Sang (Toan Le). She seeks him out at his monastery to find this missing box. It is there she sees an image hanging on his wall of an entity that he calls Sanshi.

Something else from the synopsis to include is that Vy has this itch that is getting worse. She's rubbed it raw to the point where it is bleeding. We even see her using a file to try to satiate the feeling. The more that Vy looks into things, the more that she starts to wonder if there is an evil entity following her. This goes against her sensibilities though, questioning to find a more moral explanation. The truth might even go back to when she was born. Her parents might have been dealing with this and it could date back to her father's time during the Vietnam War. Robbie thinks that it is just the stress of everything. Vy must figure it out though before it is too late.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is by giving credit to my buddy Evan. When he saw that I was watching this, he brought up that this would pair well with the movie Bug. This would be the one from 2006 that was directed by William Fiedkin. That got me in the mindset of what we're getting here. He's correct as well. We have two films that are exploring the psyche of our lead character and as to whether the things they're experiencing are real.

Now that I have that set up, I do love the idea that we're getting a character study of Vy who is a motivational speaker. In the world of the movie, she's one of the best in the world. Her books are selling. Her tours are doing so well that she's booked a world tour. I don't think it is a mistake that our writer/director Shal Ngo is also of Asian descent. There are cultural aspects like Tran having pressure put on her by family to succeed. What is interesting there is that her parents or her aunt aren't overly successful. Aunt Thuy runs a nail salon, which I'm not looking down on. It is successful but at one point, she points out that she cannot afford a massage chair that Vy purchases for her. There are familial and religious duties that Vy is ignoring, that was something else. These being set up and having a demon from Vietnam following her are good choices that I wanted to give credit to.

There are other aspects here that factor in with Vy being a woman. First, there is her husband, Robbie. His main concern is having a child. Vy is hesitant and we see that she is secretly still taking her birth control. She is partially to blame here for his excitement. I get the idea she placated by saying she also wants a child, but she isn't fully ready. Her career is important to her. My wife and I have had similar conversations. Another aspect that is also due to her being a woman is that she is fed lines to help her. This annoys her for good reason since this is her profession. She gives advice. There is one that stood out where she snaps at Robbie, even tossing a copy of her book at him. The elements of sexism are subtle and good touches. Credit to Tran and Robbins for their performances as well.

The story delves into horror, beginning with Vy's persistent itch. She avoids a doctor visit, attempting self-treatment. A doctor insists she come in, worried it's psychosomatic due to unresolved issues and stress. Vy then fears demonic possession, manifested by Stanley White Jr. (body) and Phu Quoc (voice). The classic dilemma arises: possession or stress-induced madness? While I lean towards a creature, the filmmakers maintain ambiguity, though a second viewing reveals hints of an entity.

I'll then discuss acting performances. I've given Tran credit by saying that she does a great job. There is a good touch that we have editing of showing videos where she is giving her presentation, but then showing us her current situation where she isn't using what she tells the audience. That duality of Vy is a great touch and performance. Chinh, Le and Sabrina Davi work as her family. White and Quoc bring the Sanshi to life. I'd say that overall, the acting is solid across the board to make this work.

All that is left then is filmmaking. This is where I'll bring up what I was discussing with Tran's performance. I love the editing of when she is giving this talk and syncing it up with her going insane. It is showing that even people who have great advice might have their issues in their personal life they can't handle well. I loved seeing that explored and used. The cinematography and framing are good. I love what they do with shadows. Another good touch is using ants to show the possession of this evil entity. This uses CGI to be brought to life. It also uses practical effects for the entity as well. There are brutal things done in the third act that I wasn't expecting. They made me cringe. I also like the sound design for this spirit's creepy voice. The music also helps with the atmosphere.

In conclusion, this offers a compelling and nuanced horror experience that masterfully blends psychological exploration with supernatural elements. The film excels as a character study of Vy, effectively portraying the pressures of success and cultural expectations. The strong performances, particularly from Tran, contribute significantly to the film's impact, further enhanced by clever editing and atmospheric sound design. While maintaining a satisfying ambiguity between demonic possession and stress-induced madness, the movie provides enough unsettling hints to lean towards a genuine supernatural threat. The unique visual touches and brutal third act solidify Control Freak as a film I highly recommend, especially for those who appreciate horror that delves into the human psyche.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Another example of the haltering nature of the modern horror film which makes all the usual mistakes. This one borrows heavily from the Blumhouse/mumblegore scene with its low key tale of a protagonist who comes to believe that her brain is being invaded by a monstrous parasite. I'm a big fan of the icky body horror genre, and for instance the films of David Cronenberg are some of my favourites, but this never really takes the premise far enough and only gets interesting right towards the end. I did enjoy the casting although the script gives the actors little to work with, and the addition of some poor CGI is typical but random.

Catching up on my 2025 watchlist for the next podcast episode, a mid-year review and I had this on my list for some reason. Maybe I heard about the premise, maybe it was just the poster but it was there and I watched it and god I regret it!

Controle Freak is in it of itself not a bad movie. I have seen far, far worse and there is a good movie in here but sadly it is mushed by having to many things in the air and a dreadful pacing that had me check the timer multiple times. The first time was at the 20 minute mark and I though the movie had been an hour, not a good sign.

Valerie is a motivational speaker that is getting ready to go on a world tour having a baby and many other things. All of these things culminate into an uncontrollable itch in the back of her head that might be a bit more than just an itch.

The biggest problem for me and this movie is that it falls under the modern horror tope "the monster is a metaphor", one of the 2 trending tropes in modern horror together with retro horror. This genre is done to death by now and unless you come up with a cool unique way to execute it, it sadly just becomes something that looks like a clone movie that is done better and that is the case of this movie too. I have seen this exact movie before and done better twice. "The Babadook"(2014) and "His House"(2020). Both more or less same premise but done with so much more accuracy and style. The twist here is Vietnamese/bundist folklore witch is interesting, but not utilized that well. It becomes another symbolic horror movies in the sea of them and that hurts the movies overall identity.

Another problem is the pacing. As said I checked the timer multiple times and that is a shame when your movie is only an hour 40. It feels so much longer and tedious than that and one of the reasons I think is its bloated plot where it wanted to do a million different small stories but for a rather simple premise. If the plot had focused on only 1 or 2 of these aspects and having an overall focus on the theme of generational trauma, then it would have been so much stronger and maybe even shorter and to the point. Scenes are sadly dragged a bit too long at times and that hurts the experience of once again, a not too complicated movie or plot that feels way longer than it has to.

The problem is that the overall plot and concept is cool another and executed semi-well. It´s not like I hated everything or even hated the movie overall, but it just had a bit too many small messy things that snowballed. The concept and themes here are cool, but sadly mush together and gets lost along the way. It's a little bit stress, and a little bit generational trauma, maybe some childhood trauma thrown in there and the movie simply should have focused on one of these as the main perpetrator of the villain. It also loses its metaphor along the way and becomes a bit too on the nose yet confusing with everything we have seen. The inner child thing feels like someone read a self-help book once, and that gets lost in all the other metaphors.

The movie also wants to do a bit too many things at once. It wants to be about a bit about everything and while it works for the angel it is going for, it simply doesn't work for the movie. The movie also has some insane extensions of disbelief since the characters are just unurgent most of the movie until they are. People are helping immediately, people aren't seeking help, even after learning the truths and that is annoying to follow.

The acting is overall fine here but nothing to write home about, very flat and mediocre at best. There is also some technical stuff I noticed but overall the technical stuff is also fine. There are some poor editing at times, it is most prominent in the beginning, same with the sound design that is a bit all over the place from okay to stock scratching. The effects on the monster is fine too but it is a bit hard to read the monster as to how it looks and operates. This also leads to the is it a metaphor or what? Thing since I am not sure if the monster is actually supposed to be there or not, sadly the ending kind of butchers the ambiguity to a really bad point.

One last thing. This is not a scary movie. Disturbing and distressing? Yes but calling it scary would be a stretch. I never once felt like I was scared or tense and that is not a good thing for a horror movie.

Controle Freak is just a pretty mediocre horror movie that sadly stretches its comfort time to an unnatural state where it becomes a chore and boring. The movie's title even isn´t representable of what is to come and overall the movie is a mess on a lot of levels. Offensive? No but again it becomes more than a chore than a satisfying watch.

I can't say enough about the sound design. It's juicy and intense in all of the right places! I value how the Director wove in cultural folklore and the pursuit of perfectionism which accurately reflected the the 'the model Asian' archetype many of my friends have buckled under. It speaks also to people who pursue managing their own brand and the tireless and nerve wracking control that happens with reputation management and perfection. The end of the movie won me over -- the suspenseful scenes and pace had me leaning into the gore to support the lead actor. I would absolutely watch this again -- a cautionary modern day cross-cultural tale.