UNSANE


 UNSANE 2018

Unsane is a surreal nightmare of a girl who sees her stalker everywhere. In the opening scene of the film we hear a creepy monologue in the blued dark forest, which we keep thinking about while we see Swayer's journey towards it. A successful businesswoman moves to another city to grab on a great opportunity in her career or at least this is what she wants everyone to think. We discover that the real reason behind it is her constant fear of being stalked by her stalker. She keeps changing her routine, she doesn't make friends, she is lonely. All she wants is to escape him or the feeling of him breathing behind her neck. Finally after seeing her stalker's face in her Tinder date, she seeks help. This meeting with shrink seems like a solution but it really is the start of new problems. After this point her life changes. She is being held in mental facility against her will and we are as confused as her. 

Director jumps right into the story without wasting a second of the film. And yet at some point he slows down, lets us sink all that in, lets us form our opinions just make us doubt them right after. We feel the character's journey. We feel for her, we sympathies, we feel the fear she is feeling and then we start doubting her sanity. We doubt if she is really a person worth our sympathy? We doubt out judgements and hers. She is a smart and strong woman, she keeps fighting. The creepy stalker feels weak at a point in front of her. 

The film talks about a woman who has been getting abused and no one believes her. She keeps shouting and gets ignored. She fights her way through it alone. This part of the film, these feelings fill you with angst. You feel like shouting with her. Getting your feelings cancelled is the worst nightmare, worse than having a stalker, at least for her it is. We, as an audience, feel helpless.

Despite all these things, this eerie film is intentionally funny. Director has flooded the cast with comic actors. You will laugh at things you're really worried about. 

This is just an experiment for Soderbergh and it feels like one. The film is entirely shot on iPhone. Most of the angles are wide, sometimes it gives feel of a documentary. The wide close ups and basic lighting set up makes us want to experiment ourselves. 

We root for for her, we doubt her, we sympathies and sometimes we think of her as an evil soul. 

This one is a must watch. 

UNSANE 2018 

Direction, Cinematography & Editing: Steven Soderbergh

Streaming on @mubi

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