421: Unsane

[00:00:00] 128. Let's get to Unsane and it's the second of seven Soderbergh films I'm covering in these next few episodes. And I think like Logan Lucky we did review this one on the show when it came out, could be wrong but you can check that

[00:00:15] out way way early on in the show. Anyways the movie of course is done by Soderbergh, stars Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah, Juno Temple, Sarah Stiles, not really a big cast in this one. And the synopsis is a young woman is

[00:00:32] involuntarily committed to a mental institution where she is confronted by her greatest fear but is it real or a product of her delusion? So the big thing when this one came out is that Steven Soderbergh shot it on an

[00:00:47] iPhone which is pretty crazy and there hadn't been many films like that I think Tangerine had come out before this by Sean Baker but it was still a pretty new thing and still really is not many other filmmakers have done it and I really

[00:00:59] appreciate Soderbergh for always pushing the envelope trying something new. It's not always perfect but at least he's trying to do something different and he's willing to do a small-scale small-budget movie. And I've seen the

[00:01:11] movie maybe three or four times over the years just rewatched it and I still think it's very underrated. I don't think it's a masterpiece or anything like that but it's really it's simple but it flows so well. The story is it really just

[00:01:27] builds and builds and builds there's nothing crazy about the script or their plot but it's really solid in what it sets out to do. Claire Foy is fantastic and I think the iPhone stuff for the most part it looks

[00:01:41] really good. I think the movie looks fantastic the lighting Soderbergh has pretty iconic use of lighting and how all of his light sources are kind of illuminated in that cloudy sort of style which I like. I think his movies

[00:01:56] look very good and unique but there aren't many sequences at all that I think the iPhone stuff doesn't work with. The only thing that I think is a little off and overdone not really executed properly is the sequence where she is

[00:02:13] given the extra doses of the medication or a wrong medication intentionally and there's this sort of smorgasbord of different shots mushed together and it's about her racing around the asylum like acting crazy and it has this yellow

[00:02:28] haze to it and it just it goes on too long. It's clearly a limitation of the iPhone and I think that considering what they were using I think that's something that could have been changed and minimalized either shortened or not as

[00:02:46] overcooked I guess you can say so that's really the only sequence where I'm like this doesn't work and it's clearly shot on something low budget but besides that I think the look of the asylum is really good and I think it does a good

[00:03:00] job of showing the not anything crazy deep but the corruption in the medical business in the psychiatry business where especially when it comes to mental institutions and putting people in there who just because their insurance

[00:03:16] okays it you're gonna stay in there for a while it's not oh well you're fine leave it's well your insurance covers it you might as well stay here you know or well your insurance ran out you're done doesn't matter if you're better or not

[00:03:29] and all the shady stuff that goes on and so I appreciate the movie trying to shed light on that and Claire Foy's relationship with Jay Pharaoh is interesting with Juno Temple I really like Juno Temple a lot so there's a lot

[00:03:46] of good elements I think it's really worth a watch it's never gonna be some groundbreaking movie but for the budget for the scale of the movie it's pretty impressive and I can always go back to it and there's just something about it

[00:03:58] that's interesting and engaging and there's that very frequent use of iPhone close-ups which is pretty uncommon you don't really see close-ups done on actors in that way where it's like really shoved in people's faces I think

[00:04:10] that to me that works some people may not like that I like that then the relationship with her and her stalker I think that's effective and also getting into the ideas of someone being a victim of stalking and being paranoid and that

[00:04:25] affecting your life and then possibly being around that stalker again and people not really caring I think all that's interesting and then also the scene with Matt Damon talking to her in that flashback where he's like right you

[00:04:39] need to change your locks you need to figure out a new way to get to work you need to maybe get a gun like all the stuff that is so ridiculous that is now putting more stress and pressure on the victim not the actual stalker himself so

[00:04:52] that's very interesting and compelling the blue and yellow iconic Soderbergh haze to the movie hue to the movie is good the sequence in the basement towards the end is very strong and where she gets trapped in the solitary confinement

[00:05:10] so there's a lot of stuff that I really hits me hard you know and I think it always keeps me engaged it's not too long and I think I'll always be up for Soderbergh iPhone shot films he just seems to have a knack for it you know and

[00:05:24] I don't think everybody should I don't think all movies should be shot in this way but we'll also get to high flying bird soon which was also shot on an iPhone so yeah that is a heavy four out of five