Unpredictable in every way
Unsane
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Claire Foy, Juno Temple, Jay Pharoah, Joshua Leonard, Amy Irving, Aimee Mullins, Colin Woodell
UNSANE is proof that you don’t need a whole lot of fancy equipment to shoot a good film.
The Steven Soderbergh psychological thriller was shot with just an iPhone. Yes, that thing I used to order an Uber this morning!
Soderbergh, of course, has shot his share of high-budget, blockbuster quality films like the Oceans trilogy and films with sumptuous imageries like Behind The Candelabra.
Although he has stripped away the usual elaborate filmmaking tools and grand production value for Unsane, the director is still a master at telling stories.
The film begins with a young woman, Sawyer (Claire Foy), who has just moved to a new town. One day, she invites a guy she’s met on a dating app to her apartment. Midway through an intimate moment, she strikes her date with her knee.
As it turns out, Sawyer is still traumatised by a past encounter with a stalker. She decides to go for therapy at a mental institution, Highland Creek, hoping some weekly counselling sessions will do her good.
Before she knows it, she has been involuntarily admitted to Highland Creek.
Foy’s character comes off rational at one moment and mentallyvolatile the next, as every brownhaired, bearded men (physical characteristics of her past stalker) sets her off.
Perhaps there is cause for worry and good reason for Highland Creek’s unorthodox move?
But as the story unfolds, viewers discover that the mental institution’s intentions aren’t exactly altruistic.
What follows next is ... unpredictable. I wish I could say more but it’s impossible to do that without spoiling the plot.
Rest assured, the film has all the elements of a psychological thriller. Soderbergh drops clues here and there, encouraging us to work out theories in our head while the film is going on.
It feels a little slow at times, especially in the first half, but then something happens and you’re reeled back in. And by the time the second half kicks in, you won’t want to get off this ride.
Stellar acting performances from the cast further elevate the film.
Foy is an unusual choice for the role of Sawyer (just because she’s best known for playing the regal Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown) but she manages to pull it off quite convincingly.
The actress proved her versatility playing a character that’s at times entirely coherent and at other times fearful and discombobulated.
In terms of cinematography, with the use of an iPhone, it is understandably a little grainy when projected on the expansive cinema screen.
Despite not having that crystal clear cinematic quality we’re used to, I find the look and feel quite refreshing. Maybe Soderbergh chose to shoot the film with a smartphone because one of the film’s overarching themes is stalking.
But make no mistake, the appeal of Unsane isn’t that it’s shot with a smartphone. It works because it has a good, effective story.