Mandy

Panos Cosmatos' Mandy starts off rather innocuous. Red Miller (Nicolas Cage) and his girlfriend Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough) live a modest life within the Shadow Mountains. But after Mandy crosses paths with cult leader Jeremiah Sand (Linus Roache), chaos and all hell break loose.

As one watches Mandy unfold, they may wonder how many drugs Cosmatos was on during the making of it. (Alternatively, how many should be ingested before watching it.) That's not to say it's a bad film, far from it. If anything, the distorted imagery is required for the story that's being told.

Being a second-generation director (his father George's best-known film Tombstone was also how he broke into the industry), Cosmatos obviously knows the workings of film production. And even with Mandy being his second (!) endeavor, it's clear that he'll be in the business for a long time.

The same, alas, cannot be said for composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, who died before Mandy was released. As he proved with other films like The Theory of Everything and Arrival, his music captured the ambiance of the film in question. His contribution to Mandy very much does that, and then some. (And his absence will be profoundly felt.)

Mandy is just as insane as its poster implies, almost being the demented love child of David Cronenberg and David Lynch. (Personally speaking, it's best if you read nothing before seeing it...thus rendering this review null and void.) And it's about time Cage did something that didn't feel slapped together in a span of five minutes. (The perils of money woes, folks.)

My Rating: ****1/2

Unsane

The opening moments of Steven Soderbergh's Unsane provides an unsettling narration, one that waxes poetic over how the narrator adores Sawyer Valenti (Claire Foy) with all their heart and soul. In a different context, this would be viewed as a grand declaration of love. But this declaration is coming from her stalker.

Now settled in a new city, Sawyer tries to restore the fragmented parts of her life. In doing so, she finds a place nearby to get therapy where she unwittingly consents to be hospitalized. What horrors await Sawyer in the psych ward?

Thankfully Soderbergh's plans for retirement fell to the wayside as quickly they were announced, and cinema would've suffered considerably from his absence. Since his debut with sex, lies and videotapes back in 1989, he's been a consistent storyteller through various genres. And if we're lucky, his actual retirement will not be for a long time.

Now Foy has yet to break it big in films (though she's had immense success starring on The Crown) but hopefully casting directors will remember her work in Unsane for future reference. In stark contrast to playing Queen Elizabeth II, her Sawyer is regularly on pins and needles in her effort to be in control. But will she be able to carry on a normal life?

Unsane has a sense of unease that's reminiscent of Shock Corridor (another psych ward-set film), where it feels like the protagonist may very well go mad before they're believed. Yet the viewer will find themselves rooting for the hero even if the latter isn't particularly likable (some might see Sawyer as such). And Soderbergh and Foy ensure such a reaction.

My Rating: ****1/2