Review of Unsane (2018) by Steve T — 23 Mar 2018

Unsane.

Watched 3/22/2017.

Unsane is fucked up. Director Steven Soderbergh's newest horror film delivers terror, while blurring the lines of reality and imagination. Being shot entirely on an iphone may seem like a hindrance, but it's actually mesmerizing just how much the narrowed aspect ratio adds to the sinking sensation of claustrophobia, and conveying the fear of being stalked.

Claire Foy plays Sawyer, a young, ambitious business woman. She moves out of her hometown and into the big city, repeating the lines to her mother (who she doesn't call enough) "the opportunity is too good to pass up!" That opportunity we learn is her creepy, sleazy boss inviting her to the two day work retreat, with a promise of "hands on," training. Yuck. This was a fascinating and harrowing scene especially in the wake of the #metoo, movement. This is what women deal with every second of every day. The frustration Sawyer, feels turns to disgust as the report she turns in isn't liked by her boss because it's airtight and well done (it is) but rather his physical attraction to someone younger, newer, "perkier". We see Sawyer, normally professional, and calculated, take a second and scramble while she politely and professionally declines his invitation. This scene in particular sets the tone of this film. I'm not one for synopsis, but this story spirals out of control and leads to Sawyer unknowingly admitting herself into a mental health facility, she starts seeing her stalker (we learn that's the real reason she left her hometown) everywhere. Once shes inside the facility, she sees him there too, or does she? After a blend of shots and medications, we don't really know what Sawyer sees, yet the entire runtime, she demands to be heard.

The particular aspect of this film that really sells it, is the portrayal of those with mental illness. Most films that take place in facilities like this have a pretty cringey portrayal of the patients. The mindless, dead eye drones, drooling on their gowns and barely making their way through a bowl of tapioca pudding. The patients here are all relatively normal, I mean, clearly a few of them need help, but for the most part these people are depicted with dignity. One of my favorite lines comes from when Sawyer is talking to her doctor, she says something like the rational part of my brain knows that this is just fear and anxiety blending with my imagination and manifesting into my reality, but I'm not rational. This is someone who is clearly very sane, but after going through trauma never feels whole, or safe again. Imagine being held against your will in a hospital full of strangers and someone you hated from your past comes and gives you your medication. It's terrifying.

Soderbergh does a brilliant job of making this film look a lot more complex and expensive than it really is. Editing tricks, contrast and lighting make for an incredibly jarring, slightly sickening setting. Claire Foy does a brilliant job of selling us on the realness of her plight, this isn't just her imagining this guy is here, but that he is actually here and he is fucking with her. Or is he?

Unsane, is my favorite horror film thus far into 2018. Well written, no cheap jump scares, technically brilliant and unique, well crafted characters and creepy environments, all topped off with a head for the the right now. This film is important, current, and much needed in a time where women are through being abused and silenced.