Unsane is a psychological thriller that follows the story of Sawyer Valentini (Claire Foy), a troubled woman who has just recently moved away from her hometown in the hopes of escaping her stalker. Things go sideways when Sawyer unintentionally checks herself into a mental institution for reasons related to the memories of the stalker. Without any contact with the outside world, Sawyer is trapped in this hospital, filled with mental patients and unethical employees. To make matters worse, Sawyer begins to see her stalker as one of the employees. With no contact with the outside world, how will Sawyer escape her own personal hell?
The film begins shortly after Sawyer moves to a new city. She quickly finds out that her move wasn’t enough to escape her stalker, at least not mentally. She has made efforts to forget about him but still sees his face everywhere she looks. Her “unsanity” eventually drives her to seek help from a counselor who works for Highland Creek Behavioral Center. Sawyer speaks with the counselor about her stalker and her recent move but makes the mistake of mentioning her occasional thoughts of suicide. After their meeting Sawyer unknowingly signs a release committing herself into Highland Creek for 24 hours. She tries to call the police but that doesn’t seem to work due to the fact that she called from a mental institution. At this point, Sawyer is stuck here with no contact to the outside world.
During her time at the institution, Sawyer befriends Nate, who explains that Highland Creek is running an insurance scheme that takes in normal people to profit from health insurance claims. This drives Sawyer to let her irrational tendencies to get the best of her. She starts having outbursts that make her appear as if she was insane, which only keeps her there longer. Things only get worse when she starts seeing her stalker in the institution. Now, Sawyer is battling her own mind, trying to figure out if her stalker is actually in the building or if she’s just crazy.
Unsane was a very mysterious thriller. I actually enjoyed how confused I was throughout the film. It was as if we were put into the mind of Sawyer so we could figure out if she was actually crazy or not. There is a point in the film where they reveal if she’s seeing things or not and that was a little disappointing for me. Films like this usually don’t reveal the answers until the end. That being said, there was a cliffhanger at the end that left me questioning everything about the film.
The cinematography matched the mood of the film perfectly. The angles they chose for each shot were never comforting. For example, in the scene where Sawyer met with the counselor, the camera was placed on the coffee table, aimed right at Sawyer. The angle was so unnatural and off-putting, I couldn’t help but cringe while watching. Interestingly enough, the film was shot strictly with an iPhone camera. I was shocked when I heard this fact. You wouldn’t believe that an iPhone could produce such quality but with editing software these days, I’m sure anything is possible.
For the most part, I enjoyed Unsane. While the story was a bit dull and the acting could have been better, I couldn’t get over the concept they presented. Not knowing if you’re crazy must be a terrifying experience and I would never want to experience something like that but to see it through someone else’s eyes presents an interesting experience. I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers. The mind is a mystery and movies like this make you question everything you know.
Unsane is now available in 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand. Get your very own copy today!
