Review of Unsane (2018) by Thomas D — 02 Apr 2018

Unsane is yet another well-struck thriller/horror-ish film that takes an original concept and bends it on its head. It's actually amazing to me just how much better these horror/thrillers are than they were a few years back. Whether that's because we have more of them then we used to and naturally there will be more good ones, or perhaps there's just more care given to the making of them. Either way, I'm sure as heck enjoying the resurgence.

Some may say Steven Soderbergh's decision to film the entire production on an iphone may be "gimmicky" or just down right unnecessary, but they would be wrong. It's not that the film is scarier because it looks worse, but it certainly helps that you feel like this is a more human and personal story with just a cell phone being used. Is insane (or maybe unsane?) to think of how far we have come in filmmaking, but there's almost no excuse for young filmmakers to not explore their dream now that Soderbergh has paved the way for them to see their dream fulfilled. (It should be noted that Soderbergh wasn't the first person to do this, but he's certainly the most popular filmmaker to do it).

Being involuntarily committed into a mental institution is unsettling as is, but the fact that your stalker may or may not be one of the employees in the institution, is just downright terrifying. And so the chaos and scares ensue. But for me, the psychological side of things becomes far more scary than a simple horror jump scare. It's these moments that make Unsane one of the best films of the year so far.

8.8/10.