Day 257 of the challenge! Remember that one movie they shot on an iPhone? That about sums up Unsane.
Unsane is incredibly unsure of what kind of movie it wants to be. It starts off as a fairly effective horror mystery that keeps you engaged for the most part. Is Claire Foy crazy? Is she not? Well, it doesn’t take too long for us to find out! Unsane quickly wraps up that aspect of the story and switches gears to a more traditional, but badly written, thriller about halfway through.
To give the film some credit, there’s plenty going on underneath the hood. The gender dynamics in Unsane are interesting to ponder about (frustratingly) after you’re done watching, and there’s something to be said about the way it portrays the corrupt mental health system. Soderbergh even manages to use the iPhone’s awkward aspect ratio and wide angle lens to get some striking and intense shots. None of that matters, however, when it’s all suffocated under an avalanche of cringy dialogue, terrible character logic, and a sloppy return to horror for the finale. All in all, I can’t see Unsane being remember as something greater than “that one movie shot on an iPhone.’
Side note, there’s a CRAZY cameo I never saw coming (and won’t spoil here), so keep your eyes peeled for it!