unsane
REVIEW
Every weekend I have at least 2 or 3 options for new movies to see in theaters. This weekend I chose to see the new Steven Soderbergh film “Unsane” for my Thursday night theater ritual. I could have seen the new big budget sci/fi film “Pacific Rim: Uprising” but with that film I already know exactly what I am going to get. We have all been blasted with trailers for that movie for the last 3 months and I am honestly ready for it to be released so I don’t have to see that trailer one more time. I am sure the film will be entertaining enough but I don’t need to rush out and see it so instead, I chose to see “Unsane” because maybe just maybe it could be something original, something to get me squirming in my seat or open me up to new ideas or it could just be an under budgeted garbage that leaves me leaving the theater feeling like I wasted my money and more importantly the last 2 hours of my life. I did have some confidence going into this film that I wouldn’t be completely disappointed because “Unsane” comes from director Steven Soderbergh who is responsible for all three “Ocean’s” movies as well as last years “Logan Lucky” and the under appreciated television series “The Knick” (on cinemax) which was just cancelled after its second season.
Soderbergh is a director who is constantly challenging himself and finding new and creative ways to direct a film. He does’t always take the big blockbuster budgets he was given for the “Ocean’s” movies but takes on strange and unique projects that interest him. Some work and some don’t. With “Unsane” Soderbergh challenged himself by shooting the entire film on an iPhone7. Why? I guess why not? Did this movie need to be shot on an iPhone 7. You could absolutely tell it was shot on a lower quality camera but it did give the film a more documentary style feel to it. The case could absolutely be made that it was a little distracting but I did find myself engaged with the story enough to the point where it didn’t bother me.
The story centers around Sawyer Valentini (Calire Foy) a young business woman who has recently left her family and friends and relocated to a new town because she was being harassed by a stalker. Sawyer can’t escape the metal anguish her stalker put her through. She sees his face everywhere she goes. She can’t relax so she decides to get professinal help and seeks counseling. While in her therapy session she admits to having suicidal thoughts and her therapist then commits her for 24 hours against her will. This is where the story takes off. Sawyer begins to see her stalker in the mental ward. It sends her into a panic. I she really seeing him or is she losing her mind?
I did take me a while to get into this film but there are elements to it that really worked. It did end up getting under my skin and gave me a real sense of paranoia. The audience is given a sense of the mental anguish a victim goes through. Even after a restraining order is placed and the police are involved, every aspect of the victims life has to be altered to avoid contact with this person and not have the situation escalate. This film does give some insightful perspective to the anguish Sawyer is going through and when she seeks help the mental health professionals have their own agendas that don’t necessarily include the patients best interest. Sawyer runs away from one nightmare situation and is thrown into another and we are along for the ride. I did find this movie unsettling and though it is not perfect ultimately I did enjoy it. Is it a movie you need to see in theaters? No. This movie could be enjoyed months from now from the comfort of your own home but it is a movie that I think people who enjoy psychological thrillers will enjoy. There is no doubt that Soderbergh is a master storyteller and even with limited resources he tells a compelling and engaging story that really puts in the mind of what this tormented woman is going through.
