3.3/5/0
Nightmare turned reality in this iPhone filmed psychothriller. Vacillating between what may be the truth and what may be complete insanity.
Sawyer Valentini an aggressive phone saleswoman, is traumatized and constantly looking over her shoulder for her deranged stalker of two years. While seeking guidance from a therapist at Highland Creek and what they make out to be standard paperwork, Sawyer is misled into involuntary admission to the facility. Unsettled by the idea of having to be kept for observation Sawyer becomes unhinged, earning herself more days in the facility. During her stay Sawyer panics upon the sight of her stalker disguised as an orderly. In the unraveling of events Sawyer becomes doubtful about whether or not she was wrongfully admitted or if what she knows still stands true.
Spoilers Below
Getting unintentionally committed to a psychiatric facility, although unreasonably possible, is a big fear of mine. Imagine you’re going into a clinic to speak to a psychiatric professional and what you may see as an innocent comment or harmless thought, they might interpret as a risk to yourself or others. Then oops you’re suddenly stranded in a facility to be evaluated. I know standard procedure usually goes down a lot differently than that, but when I envision this fear that’s usually how it unfolds. Sawyer Valentini unfortunately found herself in this predicament.
Upon finding out she’s been committed to the facility, Sawyer breaks out in rage and in doing so gives Highland Creek even more reason to keep her. Which is why this is such a big fear of mine. Given my personal view I’d think I would try to remain calm and dispute any reason they’d have for trying to keep me there any longer. Although, when placed in that situation you don’t truly know how you’d react. Claire Foy plays the perfect torn woman blurring the line between reality and delusion. Her desperation to be released from the psych facility enraptures the audience because you feel sorry for her. The more she tries to convince the employees that she doesn’t belong there just proves otherwise. What we know to be an honest innocent mistake becomes debatable when Sawyer begins to doubt herself. Claire Foy turns heads in her convincing perception of the muddled thoughts of Sawyer’s reality.
After watching this film would it be correct to classify Sawyer as sane or insane? Not really and the reason being is that in reality there is no barrier that labels us as sane or insane; rather it lives on a spectrum. While Sawyer is appropriately paranoid living in fear of her stalker, she’s not quite unsound. If she’s not unreasonably living in fear due to her traumatized history of her stalker, why would we analyze her as mentally unstable? What is concerning is her constant confusion of finding her stalker in random people when her paranoia takes over. This sudden confusion drives the doubt in whether or not Sawyer should be committed to the mental institution. Labels become confusing and although, Sawyer is partially level-headed there is another part where she knows she is “irrational.”
In case I didn’t already make it obvious or if the many other review’s on this film haven’t emphasized it enough I’m just going to make state it again, the entirety of this film was filmed on an iPhone 7. If you didn’t know it was filmed on an iPhone it’s not exactly the most noticeable difference, it would just seem like the intention of the film’s cinematography. The screen ratio fulfills the purpose of the tone. Although, the frame is well put together it still feels off, which ties into the major theme of the film. Sawyer also seeming well put together and in control, we still perceive a fault in her psyche. The scene of the blue solitary confinement room, challenges the iPhone’s capacity to film. The detailed close-ups throughout the film become incomparable to the blue room scene. The final moment of confronting her stalker to unleash her hatred and to make him the victim. The phone placed in a corner of the room presents the frame as a whole confined room where Sawyer is entrapped. With nowhere to hide, I felt tense and uncomfortable trying to escape David myself. Being able to visualize how small the room was, aided me in the perception of the protagonist’s point of view.
Claire Foy abruptly alternating between anxiety, paranoia, doubt, and certainty stress the instability of Sawyer’s mind. Foy correctly highlighted the controversy in Sawyer’s mind leading us to question if we missed something. I couldn’t help, but picture Sarah Paulson every time I saw Claire Foy and I was back to AHS’ asylum. And I hope in by saying that I'm not doing an injustice to either actress, I mean that as a complete compliment to both.