The psychological thriller Regression, now on DVD, delves into devil worshiping. It challenges the intellect to unravel the mystery, obtain evidence and solve the real crime behind it all. Writer and director Alejandro Amenábar leads his audience into the center of suspense as a cat-and-mouse game gets played out in a small town that’s superstition laden and suspicious of everything going on around it.
It’s the early 1990’s and with the past decade filled with suspicions of devil worshiping the evil has built up in this small town in Minnesota. The film gets serious early with John Gray (David Dencik) an older man driving his car with urgency on a rainy late afternoon. He arrives at the Hoyer police station where he meets with Police Chief Cleveland (Peter MacNeill). Cleveland tells John that reverend Beaumont (Lothaire Bluteau) had stopped by to tell him that his daughter Angela (Emma Watson) has moved into the church and has made accusations against her father that includes molestation. Detective Bruce Kenner (Ethan Hawke) gets assigned the case and takes John’s statement. When John states he admits the wrong doing because his daughter never lies, but doesn’t remember doing it, Kenner calls in psychotherapist Kenneth Raines (David Thewlis) to help in the case.
So begins a story that’s complex and filled with suspense, satanic influence and devious acts that twist the investigation into a nightmare. Director and writer Alejandro Amenábar (The Others, The Sea Inside) does his best to give his audience a good show. He builds the intrigue from the beginning, adding just enough in each scene to create doubt in John’s admittance of guilt. But, it’s not enough to make it unpredictable, so he does what most directors do to avoid it, he ends it with what I call an Oliver Twist, “more porridge please”.
Thankfully the acting by Hawke and Watson is exceptional giving the movie some depth and making it compelling enough to enjoy the scene by scene emotion. This becomes an important case for Hawke’s Detective Kenner. The town respects him and he wants convicted written on his case file. Yet he’s also a realist and knows that Angela is not telling the whole truth. Caught in the cat-and-mouse pursuits, near captures and repeated escapes Kenner’s not the cop he thought he was.
Watson in a role beyond her career of the cute Hermione Granger in Harry Potter does show another level to her range. Not the little girl anymore, she dives into her character making Angela a victim and wanting retribution. But, she’s also a determined temptress that will not let her revenge slip away when the investigation starts to go south. While the role of Angela is really not gutsy enough to make her the winner here, it does give her a chance to show she can build other characters.
BONUS FEATURE:
The special feature on the disc has four parts.
“Ethan Hawke- Bruce’s Obsession” – Here Hawke and director Amenábar talk about his character and how it fits into the whole scheme of things,
“Emma Watson- the complexity of Angela” actually after you watch the film it’s a good little feature about Angela and why she creates the mystery.
“The cast of Regression” The actors talk about their characters and how they fit into the film.
“The vision of Regression” Director Amenabar and some of the cast talk about the making of a psychological thriller.
Regression has been rated R by the MPAA for disturbing violent and sexual content, and for language.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A good stab at a psychological thriller, but it kicks the bucket in the end. (C )
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Emma Watson, David Thewlis, David Dencik, Dale Dickey, Devon Bostick, Lothaire Bluteau, Peter MacNeill
Directed by: Alejandro Amenábar
MPAA Rating: R for disturbing violent and sexual content, and for language
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Running Time: 1 hr. 45 min.
Original Theatrical Release Date: February 5, 2016
Video Release Date: May 10, 2016
Language: English
Reviewed Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.39:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
