Director: Alejandro Amenabar
Writer: Alejandro Amenabar (Screenplay)
Starring: Emma Watson, Ethan Hawke, David Thewlis, Devon Bostick, Aaron Ashmore, Dale Dickey, David Dencik, Aaron Bruun
Plot: A father is accused of a crime he has no memory of committing.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Slow Moving Thriller
Story: Regression starts with the based on real events warning with it being around satanic ritual cults, great. In the action side of things, we see John Gray (Dencik) coming to the police station about his daughter Angela (Watson) claims he molested her, before detective Bruce Kenner (Hawke) starts the questioning process.
Bruce has to look into the case which takes a turn when Professor Raines (Thewlis) enters the investigation to try and discover the lost memories in John’s head point the fingers at a George Nesbitt (Ashmore). As Bruce continues to look deeper in the case he discovers the idea of devil worship going on in the house hold but the question remains what really happened?
Regression is a very slow moving story as we watch the detective struggling with his own sanity while looking to uncover the truth about what has been really happening. We are left wondering where everything will go but by the end we are left to feel very flat. Throwing the based on true story doesn’t help because we end up having to wonder just how much is real or not. I can honestly say this was hard to watch because very little happen.
Actor Review
Emma Watson: Angela is the young lady who claims to have been molested by her father and devil worshiping cult, she has been branded with a cross. She starts trying to remember, regress is you like the memories of that night and her childhood, working with Detective Bruce Kenner to find out the truth. Emma really is wasted in this role where we would expect to see a lot more from her character.
Ethan Hawke: Bruce is the lead detective trying to find out the truth in this molestation case, he is the only one that Angela is willing to talk to being the only one she can trust, but when the cult learn he is involved they target him to, or is his mind just playing tricks on him. Ethan is the highlight of the film as we see how he deals with everything happening.
David Thewlis: Professor Kenneth Raines is the man of science bought in to use his skills that help people regress their memories from the darkest corners of their minds. He is important because we get a man of science to go against the religious side of the story. David fits this role well but doesn’t get enough time to evolve the character.
Devon Bostick: Roy is the older brother of Angela that left the family mysterious before the assaults starts, he claims they have been going on longer than Angela and we are left to wonder what he part in it all is. Devon gives us a very basic supporting role.
Support Cast: Regression has a big supporting cast that could all be suspect once Bruce goes through his process.
Director Review: Alejandro Amenabar – Alejandro tries to give us a thriller but this one really does just fizzle out to nothing.
Horror: Regression uses the idea of satanic cults but doesn’t do enough to really scare us.
Mystery: Regression does keep us guessing as to what is happening.
Thriller: Regression tries to bring us into the story on for it all to become slow moving.
Settings: Regression uses the small town to show how close everyone would be if the cult was really going on.
Special Effects: Regression has easy to pull off effects that don’t really do too much for the film.
Suggestion: Regression is one to try but don’t expect anything too impressive. (Try It)
Best Part: Hawke is good throughout.
Worst Part: Too Slow
Believability: This one is up to you to think what you want to believe.
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Runtime: 1 Hour 46 Minutes
Tagline: ear always finds its victim.
Overall: Disappointingly slow thriller that really goes nowhere fast.
Rating
