A Cure for Wellness

A Cure for Wellness

Starring Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, Mia Goth, Ivo Nandi
Directed by Gore Verbinski

The Story:
After an older executive dies of a heart attack, young upstart Lockhart (Dane DeHaan) is brought into the fold to bring a fellow executive back from a mysterious sanitarium/hospital in Switzerland.  Upon arriving at the beautiful former castle, he speaks with head doctor Volmer (Jason Isaacs), who eventually agrees to release the patient later that night.  However, Lockhart is involved in a serious car accident and wakes up days later at the hospital with a broken leg, and has to stay at the castle until it heals.

He notices all the patients are rich, older white people who all drink a mysterious water that Volmer claims to have healing powers, and when he finally finds the executive he's looking for, he doesn't want to go back.  He then meets the only young person there, Hannah (Mia Goth), who ominously tells him no one ever leaves.  As the film progresses Lockhart discovers clues to the seedy underbelly of the seemingly innocent hospital, but is it real or just all in his head?

The Synopsis:
In an industry over-saturated with comic book hero movies, films based off novels or real life events, and countless prequels and sequels, it's often refreshing to find a movie that's wholly original, something unique that separates the monotony.  "A Cure for Wellness" is half of what I just stated: it IS wholly original, but unfortunately it's not something that separates the monotony.  If anything, it makes me want to watch something that's not completely original, because it was so incredibly long, boring, and despite its long length it didn't fully explain everything in the end.

Director Gore Verbinski has had some amazing films in his repertoire, including the first three "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, but he's also had his stinkers, most notably the abysmal "The Lone Ranger."  With "A Cure for Wellness," you can tell he was trying to shake off that stigma and produce a film that's dark, foreboding, and filled with thrills and mystery.  Unfortunately, he forgot about those last two points.  The film WAS dark - either from the physical dark corridors and rooms or the visually dark scenes that were very unnerving (one involving a dentist visit that proves why I hate dentists to a tube going down a man's mouth and throat - and actually seeing the tube going down his throat), and the film has a deep sense of foreboding as Lockhart slowly (and I mean slowly) unravels the clues, but it was hardly thrilling and the mystery could've been solved by the Scooby gang in much less time (ironically in the end the bad guy literally reveals his mask like they always did in "Scooby Doo," an apt comparison).

At an extremely long runtime of two hours and twenty six minutes, the film really had a hefty job to accomplish: not just keep my attention but keep me entertained as well.  While I was sort of able to discover the overarching mystery early on, I paid close attention to the details and try to understand how I got to that conclusion, but I repeatedly found myself growing bored and drifting off.  If the film had cut an hour out, it would've been a decent, slick, unrelenting film.  As it was, it took its good old sweet time unraveling itself (with many, many...many...scenes of Dane DeHaan's Lockhart character hobbling down corridors with his very squeaky crutches), and by the end I didn't care anymore - I just wanted it to end.  It seemed like I was watching an unfunny version of "Groundhog Day" as Lockhart seemingly discovers the truth, only to be easily lied and even easier believe the lie until he finds out the same truth again, only to be deceived yet again and on and on and on.

While the center of the movie was extremely boring and lame, the outskirts are what saved the film from the dreaded "F" grade, and that's in the actors and amazing cinematography.    Dane DeHaan plays the perfect snobby elitist executive who feels like the world revolves around him and he's the most important person in the room, and makes him easily unlikable.  Jason Isaacs is the perfect seemingly good German doctor with some very shady shadows.  However, it's relative newcomer Mia Goth who really shines.  She has this ethereal beauty that somehow perfectly blends innocence and attractiveness, weakness and strength, mostly through her amazingly powerful big eyes.  She whisks across the screen like a ghost, and steals every scene she's in.

As far as the cinematography goes, Bojan Bozelli transports us to another time with the hospital in Switzerland, where there is no cell phones, no Internet, and even the appearance of a car seems to shake up the film as you're teleported to a time decades earlier.  The visuals are stunning, especially the beautiful Swiss backdrop and the classical castle architecture.  Its beauty serves as a stark contrast with the dark terrors that happen inside the walls, and showcases Bozelli's brilliance.

However, ultimately, a few small saving graces couldn't save this film from its own hubris and starch monotony, joining the ranks of many other films whose trailer is far more intriguing than the film itself.

The Summary:
While it boasts some great visuals and decent acting, "A Cure for Wellness" is too bloated, convoluted and pointless to make it stellar, and this is a cure I would never want to take.

The Score: D+