A Cure for Wellness
Thriller | 2017
Lockheart is a young executive, sent by the board of his company to a remote Swiss wellness spa to retrieve their errant CEO. The residents are all blissed-out, middle-aged former executives, who wear white and play croquet and tennis on the lawn – and drink a lot of water, which comes from a spring beneath the facility and is known for its healing properties. When he’s injured a car accident on his way back down the mountain, Lockheart seems to have little choice but to remain at the spa until he’s better. Things are about to get weird. Very weird…
1) Did you like it?
Yes and no…but mostly no. Let me explain.
2) Why?
Let’s start with the positives. A Cure for Wellness is a visually stunning film. Everything about the film’s setting is perfect – the impossibly huge castle with décor that looks like something from another era, the crisp colours, the stark white uniforms. It’s so incredibly elegant. And the film gets off to a really good start, too. It’s an inspired choice to make Lockheart such an unsympathetic character, and actor Dane DeHaan does an amazing job not only bringing him to life, but bringing the viewer over to his side, too.
The thing is, A Cure for Wellness is long. Way too long. The lingering tension that’s present in the first part of the film is dragged out until it’s stretched beyond all recognition. Then, there’s the film’s conclusion, with a “twist” that anyone could have seen coming miles off and a final confrontation that feels anticlimactic. What could have been a smart, stylish and supremely creepy movie – the cult classic it so desperately wants to be – is all, in the end, just a little silly.
3) You’ll enjoy this movie if…
Maybe if you fast-forward through a few scenes in the middle? Or perhaps I’ve just got a short attention span, and you’ll love it? Watch it and prove me wrong!
4) This movie made me think about…
For what it’s worth, this film does have a few very unsettling scenes and images that eel-y stuck in my mind…
5) Overall rating?
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave…
Moonlight
