Cure for Wellness, A (2017) [Blu-ray]
Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller
From the director of The Ring comes this psychological thriller and "Fantastically creepy experience" about an ambitious young executive sent to retrieve his company's CEO from a remote and mysterious "wellness center". When he begins to unravel the
retreats' terrifying secrets, his sanity is tested, as he finds himself diagnosed with the same curious illness that keeps all the guests there longing for the cure.
Storyline: 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. Written by 20th Century Fox
Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, June 7, 2017 Considering the fact that one of the main reveals in Gore Verbinski's The Ring had to do with a hidden well, one might cheekily assume that the title of
Verbinski's latest scare-a-thon, A Cure for Wellness, has a subtextual meaning. As it turns out, A Cure for Wellness also traffics pretty regularly in water, once again seen as both a healing liquid but also the conduit through which evil is
delivered into this world. A Cure for Wellness is considerably more labyrinthine than even the wending tale The Ring told, and it's in that complexity that some of its story's momentum is arguably dissipated. Verbinski's almost always sure
visual sense is completely intact in the film, however, and those who don't mind what is probably an overlong and way over convoluted presentation may find sufficient chills and thrills to make staying at the "rest cure spa" that's at the center of this
story a worthwhile activity.
Much as with some elements in The Ring, there's a dialectic set up between a modern urban environment and something more atavistic that seems sinister for some unknown reason. When some corporate intrigue at a large New York company ensnares an
employee named Lockhart (Dane DeHaan), Lockhart himself sees the chaos as his ticket toward career success. Part of Lockhart's exciting new duties includes traveling to an isolated spa in the Swiss Alps, where the company's chief executive officer, a guy
named Roland Pembroke (Harry Groener) has been staying. Lockhart is tasked by the company's board of directors with first locating Pembroke and (perhaps more importantly) then gaining Pembroke's aid in completing a desperately needed merger. There's some
subterfuge in all of this which is at least hinted at, but which doesn't seem to overly concern Lockhart, whom the board suggests is not exactly above reproach (or beyond the reach of law enforcement) himself for some of his duplicitous on the job
activities. That said, Pembroke's apparent mental breakdown at the spa provides an easy scapegoat for any corporate malfeasance, and Lockhart is therefore excited to travel as well as to achieve a goal which will certainly catapult him into the upper
echelons of the executive ranks.
The spa turns out to be a perhaps predictably baroque affair, one where big kahuna Dr. Volmer (Jason Isaacs) specializes in (yep, you guessed it) water treatments for a clientele who are probably only too aware of their impending mortality and who might
yearn for a quasi-baptism inaugurating them into a "new life". The entire facility is almost instantly suspicious seeming, both to Lockhart and (by inference) the audience itself, a not so subliminal feeling that is only exacerbated by the staff's seeming
reluctance to let Lockhart get anywhere near Pembroke. When a devastating (and really disturbingly staged) car accident leaves Lockhart with a broken leg, returned to the spa and put under the care of Dr. Volmer, the creepiness factor is instantly
increased, especially once Lockhart himself seems to be experiencing the same kind of delusional paranoia that has evidently subsumed Pembroke.
There are a number of interesting referents, whether intentional or not, running through A Cure for Wellness, including a kind of weird Lost Horizon ambience in terms of both the sequestered location as well as the enduring survival of
certain inhabitants. Verbinski's pace is glacial at times, recalling another ostensibly slow moving horror opus, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, a film which also shares A Cure for Wellness' post- modern take on a basic haunted house premise.
Unfortunately for A Cure for Wellness, though, there isn't the same emotional hook the Kubrick film offered courtesy of a distraught mother and an adorable little boy. Instead, there's the almost Jonathan Harker-esque (Dracula) character of
Lockhart slowly being subsumed by an evil in a secluded location which he initially at least wasn't even aware existed, at least not in the form it's ultimately revealed to be. Other cinematic referents, whether intentional or not, include some dental
care that seems reminiscent of Marathon Man , as well as a scene concerning menstruation which almost unavoidably evokes a similar moment in Carrie.
A Cure for Wellness is virtually stuffed to its gills (do eels, one of the recurring motifs of the film, have gills?) with plot points, and Justin Haythe's screenplay arguably could have been shorn of both some sidebar material as well as at least
some of the film's pretty lengthy (well over two hours) running time. But tucked into various nooks and crannies of the film are some intriguing elements and performances, including Celia Imrie as one of the aged residents who serves as a kind of analog
to the Hutch character in Rosemary's Baby. Also fascinating in a truly bizarre way is Mia Goth (a perfect surname for this enterprise) as Hannah, the only young person at the spa and one who has a none too surprising connection to Volmer.
The real star of the show, though, is Verbinski, whose askew framings and attention to detail in terms of production design and overall ambience is as acute as ever. While narratively the film tends to lurch and stumble (when it's not just kind of sitting
there, like a patient "meditating"), visually A Cure for Wellness is one of Verbinski's most audacious efforts, which is saying quite a lot for this often hyperbolic stylist. Things may ultimately not make a lot of sense, but there's always
something to see, meaning, like is often repeated about the residents at the spa, you may actually not want to leave.
I am an admitted (and frankly kind of unapologetic) lover of bright, shiny things, especially when they're delivered with the visual flair Verbinski brings to A Cure for Wellness, so my tolerance for the film's manifest shortcomings might be higher
than some other viewers'. The story has elements of real interest, but this is one overstuffed piece that could have used all kinds of judicious pruning. Technical merits are first rate, and with caveats duly noted, A Cure for Wellness comes
Recommended.
[CSW] -2.4- I agree with this reviewer that "the ending didn't justify the means" no matter how good the means were: I will make this as concise as I can. This is a movie where the director had everything he needed to bring a story home. The
story itself was beautifully twisted and if kept on a base level of gothic horror it would hit home in a good way. --- But the director had to go grandiose by bringing in several different, irrelevant, and pointless story plots. Over HALF of this movie
was just plain unnecessary! That's the point that needs to be brought home. While the director had a good story, good actors, and an exquisite setting he just kept going on and on with a lot of unnecessary scenes. If the story was cut to the basics and
kept at a reasonable 90 to 100 min running time I think the outcome would have been VERY interesting. Most of the film in this movie should have been left in the dark, wet, snake infested dungeon that was this directors phallic go-to.
[V5.0-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box
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