Directed by:
Gore VerbinskiScreenplay:
Justin HaytheCinematography:
Bojan BazelliComposer:
Benjamin WallfischCast:
Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, Mia Goth, Celia Imrie, Susanne Wuest, Lisa Banes, Adrian Schiller, Judith Hoersch, Johannes Krisch, Jeff Burrell, Godehard Giese (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
An ambitious young executive is sent to retrieve his company's CEO from an idyllic but mysterious "wellness center" at a remote location in the Swiss Alps. He soon suspects that the spa's miraculous treatments are not what they seem. When he begins to unravel its terrifying secrets, his sanity is tested, as he finds himself diagnosed with the same curious illness that keeps all the guests here longing for the cure. (20th Century Fox)
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Reviews (9)
It's delightfully filmed weirdness - after Crimson Peak, another horror film that's not very usual for the contemporary viewer (even the genre classification here doesn't know how to deal with it :)), but which perfectly had me in the palm of its hand. First of all, it was able to surprise me with something every now and then, which was probably the best of all. Priessnitz never dreamed of such a hydrotherapy, and I, who was so bored by Shutter Island, probably didn't dream of such a film either.
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Gore Verbinski is going back to horror, the genre that made him famous (The Ring), after spending some time with blockbusters (Pirates of the Caribbean and The Lone Ranger) and his new film is one of the biggest surprises for me this year. A Cure for Wellness has a very attractive theme set in a sanatorium in the beautiful Swiss Alps, an aspiring protagonist, Dan de Haan, who, although rather unlikeable, gave a solid performance, and intelligent dialogue, excellent camerawork – you can see that Verbinsky is more or less into unconventional camera shots, the crash with a deer is one of the best car and animal collisions ever filmed. Overall, there are very solidly directed horror scenes that will please any fan. Nothing is pretty to look at, but at the same time I got goosebumps and was fascinated. For some, the the two and a half hour running time may be a drawback, but for me it was a very entertaining affair that kept me on my toes throughout. A great mystery satisfaction that will be one of the best this year. In terms of visuals, A Cure for Wellness is perhaps one of the best made mystery horror dramas I've ever had the opportunity to see. 85%.
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Gore Verbinski on drugs? A third clone of Shutter Island, more confused than Stonehearst Asylum and bizarrely mixed with
The Abominable Dr. Phibes? I understand the intention to create a B-movie guilty pleasure with a lavish budget.
Mysteriousness and unpredictability work at least for the first half of the movie. But it all turns ridiculous in the end.
Dane DeHaan was certainly looking forward to his first big lead role, but he won’t break through with this one. Interesting
posters, an unclear target audience, all resulting in a fiasco. I want a more intimate version of this from Roman Polanski without
CGI.
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Shutter Island 2 – under the influence. Verbinski is a painter, his artistic eye for long takes and visually arresting stylisation is very satisfying for fans of the form. For the first half at least, he also manages to expertly build tension and a sense of something slightly bizarre beyond reality and completely unpredictable. Unfortunately, the surrealism is a bit too much, and in the hands of unimaginative screenwriters is bound to end up in an out-of-place fiasco. Scorsese also had amazing character psychology and a fantastic twist, which is lacking here.
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Whoever gave Verbinsky the money he needed to make A Cure for Wellness look so beautiful must be insane. But the insanity doesn’t end there – and will naturally disappoint anyone incapable of leaving behind the expectations of an intelligent and ambitious future genre classic (which is already made clear at least in the first half hour). On the other hand, I think that there hasn’t been anyone in history who has shot so well, and with such budget, a thoroughbred Gothic horror script out of Hammer. The core idea is alright and it’s elaborated with some sophistication, considering the standards of the sub-genre (i.e. silly, but in a cute rather than annoying way). The main problem is unfortunately the length, and here I agree with several of the more critical reviewers. The beginning is excellent, it manages to arouse the curiosity of the viewer, it’s mysterious and disturbing. The climax is also great, the WTF moments come one after another in such way that at times I wasn’t sure that I was seeing what I was seeing. Jason Isaacs plays Christopher Lee in his best years, and wonderfully at that (but who among today’s moviegoers will appreciate it?). Unfortunately, for more than one hour in the middle, Verbinsky stretches things too much and the film wouldn’t be hurt by a significant cut in its run. If everything between the first and last half hours was condensed to about half the time, it would be perfect, because I am really happy that something like this exists.
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