Review of A Cure for Wellness (2017) by Brett B — 13 Jun 2017

An incredible display of wonderful nonsense, A CURE FOR WELLNESS is one of 2017's most visually striking films, one which embraces well-worn (but little-used in recent years) genre story staples and marries them to superb filmmaking.

At its heart, the movie is fundamentally a mad scientist tale (albeit one that plays with some delightfully kooky ideas), and though it's set in present day, there's an almost old-fashioned feel to the narrative here, and that's actually kind of fun.

There's a distinctly off-kilter vibe to everything, which - coupled with the ominous mood - makes for a compelling watch and should reward fans of a certain sort of horror movie. It doesn't all fully add up, nor does it impart any great meaning, and at the end of the day the plot is wholly secondary to director Gore Verbinski's visual style, which is on full display.

The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, filled with painterly and haunting compositions, and also a sense of stillness and crispness at times; it's one of the most beautiful movies of the year.

That said, the movie's chief weakness is its excess; it kind of revels in its overblown qualities, clocking in at two-and-a-half hours. It's leisurely paced at points when the natural contours of the story should be accelerating, and I think the movie would be immeasurably improved if it were 30 minutes shorter.

There's just no reason for this pulpy and ridiculous story (and those are compliments) to be near-epic length, though it's always a visual pleasure to behold. The score by Benjamin Wallfisch is superb, unabashedly going big and grandiose in ways that are really effective.

Given its lukewarm reception when it hit theaters, I was not expecting much from A CURE FOR WELLNESS, but I was very pleasantly surprised by its classic horror inclinations and its incredible visual flair.

It's a "style over substance" movie all the way, but what style!