A Cure for Wellness (2017)

[Plain Old Tele]

Discuss.

[Plain Old Tele]

C+... I think?  

 

If I ever see the end that might get adjusted, although I don't think it'd be much beyond a B- or a flat C.

[Biggestgeekever]

Gore Verbinski has always had a remarkable talent for arrested visuals, and anyone who's seen the trailer for this will guess A Cure for Wellness is a treat in that department. And it absolutely is, and features some strong performances. It unfortunately feels like it's about 7 hours long. I think the problem, rather than the runtime, is that 1) Verbinski fails to truly escalate the tension and 2) I felt ahead of every one of the film's twist, and that makes the wait for the twists to come even longer. The final 20 or so minutes are also very, very bizarre, almost entirely divorced from the tone of the previous 2 hours. The ending in particular I don't quite know what to make of, but I wasn't left with a positive impression.

 

The imagery is mostly not that interesting either; a couple of moments involving a stag that reminded me of Hannibal, and that show thoroughly trounces Cure in the psychedelic imagery department. I think there's only one scene in this film (the sensory deprivation tank) that struck the balance between visual craziness and sense of "what the fuck is going on here?" that I expected, which is a real shame.

Edited February 17, 2017 by Biggestgeekever

[SteveJaros]

I saw ACFW this morning. Sheesh! This is a LONG dirge of a movie. Yes, the scenery is beautiful and the director captures a certain gloomy mood at times, but for most of its 2 1/2 hours, ACFW is a pedestrian asylum-horror story of the kind we've seen many times before. Director Gore Verbinski struck diamonds a decade ago with the Pirates of the Caribbean series, but IIRC he also made the Lone Ranger a few years back, so this might be the last time he gets to helm a film of this size. 

The casting, featuring two erstwhile models turned actors, Mia Goth and Dane Dehaan, doesn't help. Goth is a minor league Kate Moss and DeHaan is a pale facsimile of Leo Dicaprio. Neither conveys any charisma, and given the flimsy and predictable story, if ACFW was going to be saved the actors had to save it.

I wasted 140 minutes of my life on this. I recommend you don't, LOL.

 

364/1000

Edited February 18, 2017 by SteveJaros

[DAJK]

How unfortunate. A movie that had me completely hooked even before I was in the seat just lost me. Some technical aspects were well done, and the film did have some fine performances (no one stood out as bad) but the storytelling was just so convoluted and there was absolutely no payoff. The initial mystery is interesting, but becomes less so as the film wears on. 

 

Honestly, while it is technically made 10x better than the bye bye man for example, I just did not enjoy it very much, and would have to grade it somewhat similarly. 4/10 

[Blankments]

A Cure for Wellness is a fascinating thrill ride into the disturbing mind of Gore Verbinski. Every aspect of this film has his endlessly creative fingers on it, making for a riveting experience. He might take after his influences a bit too much, but horror films like this should be commended for their fascinating elements. The script might have a bit too many obvious moments, but for a two-and-a-half-hour-long movie, it's remarkably well-paced. The trio of the main cast all give captivating performances, and Wallfisch's score gives a playful vibe to the proceedings. Bazelli's cinematography is hauntingly gorgeous, and, honestly, is worth a trip to the theater on its own. A Cure for Wellness is the type of bold filmmaking rarely seen in genre filmmaking, thanks to Verbinski's winning direction and excellent sensibilities. B

[antovolk]

Delightfully insane and just beautiful, if a tad self indulgent. It really takes its time from the very start, and it does feel long, but not in a bad way, you still want to see where this goes next. It really isn't gonna be everyone's cup of tea, mind. The real MVPs are the visuals (Bojan Bazelli, take a bow) and the score (Ben Wallfisch, take a bow - can't get that lullalby out of my head) - DeHaan and Issacs are great, and we really need more of Goth in more stuff. Like The Ring (are we sure this isn't in the same universe), Verbinski directs the hell out of this one, and his sense of style alone manages to smooth over the cracks in the story. Absolute big-screen must. And as others have said - insane how Fox managed to let Verbinski do this. We need more bold original stories like this one.

B+/A-

Edited February 25, 2017 by antovolk

[Goffe]

Wellness tells a story that we have seen a million times before, but it does so with so much panache that I couldn't help but be entranced by the sheer majesty of Verbinski's direction. The nightmare-like atmosphere sucks you right into its world, the cryptic characters supported by hypnotic performances only seals the deal.

 

It's hard to look away, except when it wants you to. In one of its most terrifying scenes, a drill drove through one of DeHaan's teeth so convincingly that I saw myself squirm uncomfortably like I never had before – "don't do that, please don't show that" I verbalized to the screen.

 

Clocking at 145 minutes, Cure is the most satisfying experience I had this year. 85/100

Edited June 4, 2017 by Goffe

[Maxmoser3]

A strange film, but something different. Dane Dehaan does a great performance, and the film has a strange atmosphere to it. As does the creepy look of the sanitarium. and the doctor wasone fucked up dude. Grade: B

[That One Girl]

Art.