A Cure for Wellness [DVD] [2017]

Valerian goes to Shutter Island and gets sent back in time to Shape of Water. Weird and beautiful is the most accurate description of this. The set pieces could not be more perfect and helps make up for the non-attractive plot structure. Must admit I am leaving confused, but maybe I am unwell and need to spend another treatment looking for the cure. Recommended. Is it just me or does Mia Goth look exactly like the girl from Au Hasard Balthazar?

Written by Just Haythe, who previously only adapted Revolutionary Road for the screen and served as one third of the team that composed Lone Ranger among a few other jobs, A Cure for Wellness is a movie unlike those we typically get a chance to see in cinemas these days. This meaning Haythe has crafted a horror film of epic proportions that was somehow granted a budget of $40 million and placed in the hands of Lone Ranger director Gore Verbinski who, despite the reputation the likes of The Lone Ranger and The Pirates of the Caribbean films may garner him, is one of the best and most underappreciated auteur's working today. That the film also got a major theatrical release without having the added bonus of a rather recognizable star is just another surprising facet in the fact this thing was able to be made as it has been. That said, Verbinski, for one reason or another seems to carry a lot of clout in Hollywood and if he can use it to continue getting high-concept original material made at budgets not normally given to properties without source material or brand recognition-more power to him. Outside of his blockbuster endeavors, Verbinski has made inspiring films such as Rango and The Weather Man, but what is most critical to understanding why he was the perfect fit for something like A Cure for Wellness is the mention of his 2002 hit, The Ring. It could very well be that my experience with seeing The Ring for the first time in theaters at a nine o'clock show at the age of fifteen was one of the most terrifying if not the defining theatrical experience of my life when it comes to horror movies, but Verbinski (just listen to that name, even his name sounds like he was made to make scary movies) will always hold a special place in my petrified heart. And so, when it was announced the filmmaker would be directing his first horror flick in fifteen years you can bet it shot straight to the top of my most anticipated list. As with all movie-going experiences, expectations play a certain role and mine couldn't have been higher for A Cure for Wellness which may or may not be why the finished film simultaneously floored and confounded me. To be clear, this is a staggering piece of work-a masterful examination of purpose and other existential qualms that drive us to achieve material success that translates to a superiority over our fellow man that is never fully qualified as such in this life. Yet, while the film begins with such ideas and ambitions ripe for the taking it eventually succumbs to the mystery the film layers in early on that will seemingly intertwine with its thesis, but rather the two never mesh leaving Haythe's final draft one we wished he'd revised just a few more times given he might have then had his hands on a masterpiece in several genres and not just a satisfactory psychological thriller.

I enjoyed this film immensely, but will own that it is not a film for everyone. Still, the Blu-ray readily captures the beauty and oddness of the film and having the digital copy and Blu-ray together will be great for anyone who enjoys the strong visuals and slow burn of this movie.