A Cure for Wellness

Starring: Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, Mia Goth, Ivo Nandi, Adrian Schiller, Celia Imrie, Harry Groener
Directed by: Gore Verbinski
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Horror
2017

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A young executive (Dane DeHaan) reluctantly travels to a remote "Wellness Center" to retrieve his company's CEO. He soon suspects the treatments are not what they seem.

Review:

Tim: A Cure for Wellness is certainly not like most movies we seen. I have to give the film some credit for just being a different beast. It was fun to sit down and watch an intellectual drama horror/fantasy film. We don't get enough institutional horror movies, so it's always fun to watch. Overall, I enjoyed this movie. Gore Verbinski is a talented director and he's able to mostly hold our attention. The movie does fall apart at the end, but I still had a good time watching this film. It ultimately doesn't live up to its promise, but there's still quite a bit to like here.

Verbinski does a good job of creating a creepy atmosphere at this remote rehabilitation center. It certainly seems upfront on first appearances, but as you slowly dig deeper into the mystery of the center, you begin to get more and more uncomfortable and curious as to what is really going on. Exploring this mystery and seeing the increasingly bizarre/worrisome behavior was legitimately fun. I enjoyed trying to figure out what was happening and wondering how it would impact the characters. That's the best part of the movie. Now, while the story is interesting, it's not nearly interesting enough to support a 2 hour, 26 minute movie (I feel like I'm saying that a lot lately- directors are making movies that are simply too long). The film is a good 20 minutes too long and that hurts the final product. There's too much fluff here. The movie needed to be cut down and more focused. Those extra, unnecessary minutes really decrease the overall quality of the film.

I have to say that while I did enjoy the movie, the wheels fall of the bus at the end. The conclusion was too forgettable, too farfetched. I didn't enjoy it and it made you wonder why you bothered sitting through such a long movie. It's okay, it's not terrible, but the movie needed a great conclusion, not to go out like it did. The movie worked so hard to avoid ending on a whimper that it instead gave us too much, strained our credulity and ultimately hurt itself significantly.

On the positive side, Dane DeHaan did a great job in the lead role. He's a talented actor and was the right one for this part. He's kind of an odd guy, so I wonder how he'll continue to find the kinds of roles he needs. This is a perfect one- he's playing a normal person but can let some of his oddities come out throughout the course of his performance. He has this dark, dangerous streak in him, which was perfect for this role. Jason Isaacs did a good job as well, at least until the end of the film. I didn't love Mia Goth's performance. I think a better actress could have improved the film significantly with a more believable performance.

A Cure for Wellness at least felt like something fresh and original. Although it ultimately proves to be a lot closer to other movies than we'd hoped, the presentation allows it to feel unique and I appreciated that. It's a different movie, for sure, which is a good thing. Gore Verbinski directs a solid movie and Dane DeHaan does great work in the lead role. While this movie might have been a box office failure, I enjoyed watching it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Shutter Island, Gothika, The Ring