I'm not sure what to say about this one, I liked it at the cinema, but found myself to be a lot more critical on second viewing. Still better than The VVitch though.
A Cure For Wellness centres on Lockhart, an ambitious, young executive, who is sent to retrieve a CEO of his company from a strange spa in the Swiss Alps, after a car crash, he ends up a patient with a broken leg, he soon finds a mystery, which will test his very being to unravel. What's with the water? What is this illness the patients are desperately trying to cure?
I'll start by saying that this film is stunning. It might be one of the best looking films I have ever seen. The cinematography is perfect, and there are some truly breathtaking shots, especially of the exterior of the centre and the surrounding areas. The setting is gorgeous, but also lends really well to the film's sense of isolation. The imagery flits between beautiful and disturbing, but always in an artful manner. Unfortunately, there are parts of the soundtrack I cannot stand, they verge on infuriatingly irritating. But again, for the most part, the soundtrack is well used and fits the tone of the film really well.
It is well acted on all fronts, with no one giving a bad performance. Dane DeHaan plays the role of Lockhart convincingly, the audience not only feel for him, but also begin to feel as if they are losing their sanity and begin to question what they have seen. Mia Goth plays her role well, with child-like naivety viewers begin to sympathise with. Jason Isaacs shows the progression of well meaning professional to creepy, evil antagonist with ease. All these actors also benefited a fantastic script, which hints often, giving the audience just enough to keep them interested, and with enough tension to keep them on the edge of their seats. The focus of this film is to unsettle the viewer without the use of copious jump scares, which is done masterfully.
There is a lot of symbolism, water, eels, sickness and health. This is just personal perception, but I believe the water signifies corruption, we see a lot of corrupt staff, they neglect patients for their sexual desires, they attack patients, and eventually kill them to use their fluids as a means to live forever. Eels are seen as undesirable, slippery creatures, and may symbolise the centre's ability to keep their track's covered in immoral ways. Health is an interesting theme, as we start off believing that people are there to get better, but slowly we uncover the secret that no one gets better, it may be a commentary on the state of the medical system in today's society, especially in America.
Onto the bad... Messing with or extracting teeth makes most people cringe. Teeth and finger nails. But specifically, TEETH. *Shudders*. There are also many older people in varying states of undress. And, a little picky thing, DeHaan, did the director tell you to drink with a huge fish face, or is that how you really drink from a glass? Because it looks ridiculous! And all the talk of sickness means I struggle to not make jokes about Disturbed monkey noises.
Those are nit-picky, so I'll have talk about the ending, dum dum duuuuuuum. Probably the film's weakest aspect, the last twenty minutes or so feel so contrasted to the rest of the film's script. Those minutes are almost completely unnecessary, except a desperate bid to tie up a lot of unexplained plot lines, and give the film a nice, happy, Disney-fied ending. But wouldn't it be nice, for once, to not have film makers assume that every viewer is a complete moron who needs the plot, not spoon fed, but shovel fed to them. The hints dropped throughout the run time would have easily eluded to the truth, there was no need to shove it down the audience's throat the way it was. Such a shame.
A Cure For Wellness might be an example of style over substance, with beautiful shots, great acting, and some good ideas, but it is let down by an ending that removes all mystery the film had. It is at least a film that will keep you entertained, and the plot is interesting, until the last twenty minutes.
If you like a film full of intrigue and mystery, that looks stunning and is well acted, go for it!
7/10
Comments
Post a Comment