"A Cure for Wellness" is Gore Verbinski's first attempt at a psychological thriller since his mediocre 2002 film, "The Ring", a remake of the Japanese phenomenon, "Ringu." (And by 'Mediocre' I mean terrible. I just didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings who may have like that movie. But if you are one of those people, what the hell is wrong with you?)Going in, I was curious to see if the filmmaker responsible for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies was up to the task.
Lockhart, (Dane DeHaan) is presented to us as a dull, disappointing protagonist and a dick. (Think Leonardo DiCaprio having a love baby with Dr. Sheldon Cooper.)
The board of the company he works for has found some in some discrepancies in Lockhart's work that the SEC would find very interesting.
They agree not to turn him in if he will complete one mission. The company's CEO, one Roland Pembroke, (Harry Groener, the snake-mayor from (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) went on a two-week spa vacation in Switzerland and has refused to come back.Lockhart's task is a simple one: go and fetch Pembroke.
On his way to the isolated retreat, Lockhart learns that the place has a dark history. When his car hits a deer, he is wounded and wakes up inside the retreat three days later.
But they are at altitude, so Lockhart needs to stay hydrated. He drinks more than his share of water. As Lockhart stalks the grounds, he notices that much of the patients' time is spent in water whether in swimming pools, steam baths or the sensory deprivation tank. Maybe there is something strange about these 'treatments'. He looks high and low and at the beginning of the second act, Lockhart finally finds Pembroke, who agrees to return to New York.
Then, the man vanishes again, into thin air. Again, he is told that Pembroke is not well enough to see him.
Lockhart waits and investigates and it soon becomes obvious that something is wrong with the water. As he waits, the wellness center decides to take Lockhart on as a patient as well. Immediately, it is plain that Lockhart is not taking to the treatments.
What follows is more or less an ordinary cat and mouse game. Or so we are led to believe until "Wellness" pulls the rag right from under us.
The film is wise enough to realize the small things that make you squirm are more visceral than any abstract fears. Like pulling one's teeth out.This place performs medical experiments, so when he finds himself in a tank or strapped to a bed, listening to all the doctors speaking German, it is unsettling. (At one point, I can guaranteed piss will trickle down your legs. When it happens, you'll know. It is even worse than the elderly zombies.)
And if you think your grandma is being abused in her nursing home, that is nothing compared to what the staff is up to at this sanitarium. There are some nice nightmarish sequence, even if some are ordinary. There are even a few Vertigo-esque shots thrown in to mount the tension. Much of the imagery is heavy handed. Yes, we get that Lockhart has an aversion to water because he watched his father jump off in a bridge, into a river, in a rainstorm.
So it is understandable that he is wary of water treatments.
Once again, just as we're lulled into a nice, typical suspense tale, Verbinski kicks our legs right out from under us again. He keeps surprising us to the end.Socially, "Wellness" makes a comment on how we can all be taken in so we do not see what is happening around us. We do not even notice when we start to die. The kind of entrapment Lockhart is supposed to feel is reminiscent of Gordon Peele's film "Get Out" from earlier this year in that it focuses on the notion of the victims being supposedly willing.
I was impressed at how I was taken darker and darker and darker...
"Wellness" is not even close to the same level of excellence of "Get Out", but I can confirm that despite its crude, inelegant end, it is Verbinski's most satisfying film yet.Except maybe "Rango." I like "Rango."
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