A Cure for Wellness — the most disturbing film I have watched on a big screen lately.
A Cure for Wellness is a visually stunning, scary and grotesque psychological thriller. I admire the result of great work done by director Gore Verbinski. Somewhere in the middle of watching it, I had a feeling that I won’t be able to make all the pieces of the plot puzzle into one. As story throws up questions one by one thereby fueling the interest in what is happening on the screen. But in the end everything becomes clear.
The narrative is linear and quite simple. The movie follows usual three-act structure. At first, we get introduced to main protagonist Mr. Lockhart. And we get to know his character in exposition stage. Then we dive into rising action sequence when Mr. Lockhart arrives at the rehabilitation center to visit his colleague Mr. Pembroke. He stays there for a longer period than he expected. Which eventually leads us to intense climax scenes. There is basically no falling action sequence as the stage of the resolution came shortly after climax.
The movie is full of perfectly shot disturbing imagery. Amazing visuals are underpinned by a surprisingly strong plot. Most of the modern movies use orange and teal color scheme. While A Cure for Wellness stands out with its light shade of green color scheme. Which sets the mood for strict unpleasant medical institution theme. Credits for cinematography goes to Bojan Bazelli. And my praise for screenplay goes to Justin Haythe. Film setting and main protagonist reminded Shutter Island movie directed by Martin Scorsese. But even that both films have few things in common they are too different to compare.
A Cure for Wellness is a perfect example of how The Human Centipede, Rupture, Saw and other movies focused on disturbed imagery could look like. If they only had a well-crafted script and a decent budget. I still can’t hide my disappointment from watching Rupture recently. It also shares a lot in common with A Cure for Wellness. Similarities could be found even in movie trailers, so I got some expectations for both films. And in a case with A Cure for Wellness I got much more than I expected.
I can’t say much about acting this time. Honestly, after watching La La Land it will be hard for me for some time to praise someone’s acting. The cast looks decent on the screen. Dane DeHaan coped with the role of his character. Mia Goth really shines in a dance scene in the bar.
Conclusion: A Cure for Wellness is definitely worth watching, mostly because of its excellent visuals. But choose carefully with whom you are planning to watch it. Don’t go to cinema with your parents or your girlfriend or with great chance you will be called a sick bastard.