Outrunning a Stalker, Physically and Mentally

Claire Foy in "Unsane"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com 

There are several reasons why Steven Soderbergh is one of our most-ambitious modern filmmakers.  He achieved a double-header in 2000, when he directed the biographical-drama “Erin Brockovich” and the crime-drama “Traffic,” which resulted in him receiving two Oscar nominations for Best Director in the same year (he won for “Traffic”).  Then, he worked with an ensemble cast of all-stars for his “Ocean’s Trilogy” trilogy (2001-2007).  After that, in 2008, he directed a four-hour biopic about Che Guevara.  Then, between 2011 and 2013, he delivered the sci-fi thriller “Contagion,” the action-thriller “Haywire,” the comedy-drama “Magic Mike,” the psychological-thriller “Side Effects,” and the television biographical-film “Behind the Candelabra,” all within the span of less than two years.  After a directorial hiatus that lasted until 2016, he gave us a movie just last August with the heist-comedy “Logan Lucky.”

Soderbergh’s ambition is still going strong, as he already has a new movie out, the psychological horror-thriller “Unsane,” which he filmed with an iPhone, making this one of a few movies to do so.  Mixed with a gripping central performance and an unnerving story, Soderbergh brings us a film that keeps you tense with anxiety.

Sawyer Valentini (Claire Foy) is a young businesswoman who, despite trying to live a normal life, can't help but imagine that she sees her stalker, David Strine (Joshua Leonard) everywhere she goes, even though she’s gotten away from him.  Looking to rid herself of this paranoia, she drives to a mental hospital to receive help.  Sawyer’s then admitted against her will and soon realizes that David is working in the hospital.  However, she’s not sure whether it’s him, or her mind getting the best of her.

Claire Foy does superb work in displaying the mental anguish that stalking has had on her.  However, what makes her character memorable is that she doesn’t hold onto that anguish, but instead persists in trying to convince the hospital staff that she's psychologically sound.  Although we’re not sure until later in the movie whether or not Sawyer’s actually seeing her stalker, we’re still invested in Sawyer’s arc because of the strength that Foy puts into her character as Sawyer tries to make people believe her.  Even when the movie has you in a state of apprehension, the power of Foy’s work keeps you hopeful that her character will make it out okay.

While I can’t say much about Joshua Leonard’s role without spoiling anything, I’ll say that he delivers an unsettling performance that always hints at the menace that’s hiding behind his calm persona, whether he be real or not.

Jay Pharaoh, who provided terrific laughs on “Saturday Night Live” from 2010-2016, exhibits another side of his acting abilities as a fellow patient who helps Sawyer assimilate into the hospital.  He delivers a performance that’s understatedly witty from time to time, but one that also shows glimmers of a talented dramatic actor.

Although the screenplay by Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer is hindered by some implausibilities, the duo is still able to create a story that invests you in Sawyer’s predicament.  They accomplish this by keeping the narrative in the hospital for most of the movie, making us feel the effects that the setting has on her and the full weight of the danger that she’s in.

The cinematography by Soderbergh (under his usual pseudonym, Peter Andrews) utilizes impressive abilities to film with an iPhone.  Even though he uses a smartphone, this movie isn't meant to resemble found-footage, but is merely a movie that embraces the moviemaking capabilities of a such a device.  It feels appropriate that the film is shot on an iPhone because, in a couple of shots where it feels like we’re watching Sawyer through David’s point of view, it almost seems like someone’s spying on and recording her with a smartphone.

Because this isn’t meant to be a found-footage movie, but is still shot on a smartphone, Soderbergh has the film balance on a line between being something that’s just a movie, and at the same time, being something that feels more realistic than that.  The latter’s achieved because it seems as though the film uses little manipulation of lighting in its cinematography, and instead sticks with the eery fluorescent lighting of the hospital.

Aside from one quick scene in which Soderbergh uses unsettling camera techniques to show Sawyer experiencing the side effects to her medication, he’s restrained in the tricks that he uses to unnerve the audience, and instead uses the characters and setting to do that.

“Unsane” marks the first time that Soderbergh’s directed a horror film, and it continues his trend of being able to handle many kinds of genres.  And, at the rate in which Soderbergh’s able to come up with different projects, I hope he doesn’t take another hiatus’ anytime soon because it’s clear that he has too many ideas to let us go even one year without a new movie.  

Final grade: B+