Imagine being held hostage in a foreign country, being told you’re “unwell” and need professional help, and being convinced you’ve gone insane. That’s essentially the premise for the new movie “A Cure For Wellness”. In this two-and-a-half-hour thriller, the plot is almost comprised of two sub-plots put together to form a larger, more complex storyline. Along with being persuaded of his faux-insanity, the protagonist (Lockhart) is trying to uncover what “the cure” really is, and the purpose of the facility in general. The movie displays acts of torture, attempted rape, nudity, near-drowning, a car accident, arson, and unconventional “treatments”. Trying to put together pieces from the sanitarium’s history and clues from other patients, Lockhart begins to discover strange occurrences happening in the sanitarium, and the doctors resort to torture in order to ensure his silence and compliance.

Upon seeing this movie, I thought it was very interesting and unique. I was under the impression that the movie plot was very creative, but my friends mentioned its similarities to Shutter Island. I have not seen that movie, so I cannot agree or disagree. Although, the film did continue for another hour after one would think was the ending. I personally didn’t mind, but my friends seemed to get more uninterested the more the movie dragged on. The thriller does a good job of keeping its viewers at the edge of their seats, but it has a thought-provoking factor that’s not necessarily needed. By that I mean, it’s makes the viewer go “Wait what’s going on now?”. Maybe it’s just me, but I like movies where I can easily understand what’s going on.

Overall, A Cure for Wellness was entertaining, and did its job as a thriller. The plot was, apparently, repeated, and was executed in an overly complex way. On a scale rating, I would personally rate the whole movie at about a six out of ten, and I might watch it again. Maybe.