Mar 1

Mar 1 Unsane (2018)

With Unsane, veteran director Steven Soderbergh demonstrates the possibilities of guerrilla filmmaking. Recorded in just ten days entirely with an iPhone 7 Plus, the result provides audiences with a stylish, fully wrought independent film. Unfortunately, Unsane also proves by counterexample the importance of starting cinematic projects with a good screenplay.

Claire Foy does a creditable job in the lead role of Sawyer Valentini, a victim of stalking whose subsequent paranoia drives her to relocate to a new city. Even after moving more than four hundred miles, she continues to think she sees her stalker—at work, on the street—and so she seeks counseling. By making reference to suicide while speaking with a healthcare professional, and then signing some papers without fully reading the fine print, she inadvertently commits herself for twenty-four hours of observation in a psychiatric facility. A violent outburst during that period extends her stay to a full week, during which time she claims that one of the institution’s nurses is not who he claims to be, but her stalker.

Early on, scenes of genuine tension suffuse Unsane with an eerie, claustrophobic feel. The story treats Sawyer with both sensitivity and caution, making the audience uncertain of her assertions. That question—whether or not Sawyer’s mental state can be trusted—forms the central organizing principle of the film, but it dissipates far too quickly. Unsane devolves from an intriguing exploration of mental fragility to something more prosaic and decidedly less interesting.

Amy Irving does a good job as Sawyer’s mother, and Juno Temple convincingly portrays an unstable patient. In a surprise bit of casting, Saturday Night Light veteran Jay Pharoah plays another internee, one who may or may not be investigating the psychiatric institution, and he does well in a serious role that offers no comic relief. Despite its numerous solid components, though, Unsane fails to coalesce into a successful film.