Tags:
Film: The Unraveling
Year: 2023
Director: Kd Amond
Writers: Kd Amond and Sarah Zanotti
Starring: Sarah Zanotti, Sam Brooks and Katherine Morgan
Review:
This was a film that I got the chance to see thanks to Shirly from Studio Dome who sent over a screener. What piqued my interest is that the Horror Collective picked this up and they’re an independent group that has selected interesting horror films. This didn’t look to be listed in the genre according to the Internet Movie Database, but it was on Letterboxd. Plus, it seemed to have dark themes. That made it good enough for me to check out.
Synopsis: after suffering a traumatic brain injury from a car accident, Mary Dunn (Sarah Zanotti) begins to believe that her husband, Grayson (Sam Brooks), has been replaced by an imposter.
We start this off with Mary at a bar. She is chatting with the bartender, Teddy (Brad Bohannan), which showed that she is a regular. She is meeting with Grayson. What we also learn is that this duo like to role play. She puts on a wig and they pretend that he’s a doctor. The two leave and this is where tragedy strikes. They get into a car accident.
It then shifts into the present where we see that both survived. Mary is struggling with an injury to her knee from the accident. There is something more though when she gets home. She doesn’t seem as interested when Grayson is talking to her. The reason is that she thinks since the accident that he is no longer the same person she married. She is in belief that he looks like Grayson, but hers is somewhere else. She makes a call and we hear his voice. Mary wants him to help her with creating a device to travel time or that he’s in a different dimension. This seems to be multiverse style.
There are then other odd things that we see and hear. Mary meets Elise (Heather Lannan). Both were teachers at the same school and we learned about this friend in that opening scene over a phone call. Mary seems unhinged here, causing Elise to worry about her. Her husband is a police officer as well. There is also a phone call to Grayson from Mary’s mother, Gabrielle (Katherine Morgan). She’s concerned that she hasn’t spoken to her daughter. What Grayson relays seems odd and makes Gabrielle worry more. This couple are also seeing a therapist and Mary listens in to her ‘husband’s’ session.
What I’ll say then to end this out is that there is a logical explanation for what is happening here. Mary seems to be having a break from reality as she continues to see this shadowy figure haunting her, played by Seth Dunlap. She also vomits blood while in a coffee shop, has night terrors as well as sleep paralysis. It becomes complicated even more with another discovery as well as the truth as to what is happening here.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. There was a reveal that I almost gave but decided that it didn’t add anything to spoil it. It does raise tension for the story. What I’ll say is that while watching this, I was wondering if this was going to be a horror movie. In the grand scheme, it is light on those elements. This shadowy figure that is haunting Mary is creepy. The whole idea of her thinking that she is living in a house with someone who looks like her husband, but she doesn’t believe that it is him, which would be as well. There are reveals though and the explanation of everything does remove that tension. We are still getting an interesting story to tell. Not necessarily new though.
I think where I’ll start then would be discussing Mary since this is a character study about her. I’ll start by saying that Zanotti has a personal connection here since she co-wrote, executive produced and starred in this film. What works here is that we get just enough of a baseline for her before we see her after the accident. This is told mostly from her point of view, so we wonder why she believes that Grayson isn’t her husband. I’ll say an issue I have with this movie is that it doesn’t do enough to make us side with her and makes the character feel crazy to me. Especially since Grayson is such a nice guy to help calm her down and help her work through her issues. It then takes an odd turn at the end if I’m honest. I’ll still credit Zanotti as I thought she was good here.
Then to go along with this idea, we see Mary not believing that Grayson is her husband. She does this with Gabrielle, Elise and a librarian, Rafi (Destiny Danielle). These all make me wonder if Mary is unraveling, since she only thinks this when they question her or try to see if she needs help. That makes her seem more unbalanced. I do think that there could be tweaks here, because it almost feels like this whole time is being gaslit. In her eyes, she is. I did like it when Grayson reveals something to Gabrielle that made things click. That worked for me.
The last two things then for the story is something that gets revealed between the therapist and Grayson. I don’t believe that this is something they would do to help Mary. If they did, I don’t think it would go on for as long as it does as it feels that is also gaslighting her. It feels like it was done to a reveal near the end and helping with convenience. There’s also another reveal at the end that feels like it diminishes things done and built up. It isn’t a new concept. The moment it clicked what they’re doing, it made me think of movies that did it better. I’ll give credit though to explain certain outbursts for Mary and who the shadowy figure is as well.
Where I’ll go would be the acting. I’ve already said that Zanotti was good here. She carries this film as the focal point. I thought that Brooks was good as this understanding husband. There are just things that got revealed that made me question what we were trying to do here and it doesn’t fully work. Morgan was fine as the mother. Ali Alsaleh, Bohannan, Danielle, Dunlap, Lannan and the rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed.
All that is left then is filmmaking. The cinematography was good. How they framed the shots worked for me. This is especially turn when we’re seeing Mary haunted by this shadowy figure. That got creepy at times for sure. I’d bet that we have mostly practical effects. This isn’t a movie that requires the need for too much so that it part of it. No complaints there. Other than that, I thought the soundtrack fit for what was needed.
In conclusion, this one has an interesting story to it. There are elements we’ve seen in other things. For the most part this works. There are just choices made that I’m not entirely sure come together as well as they would have liked. The acting though was good. Zanotti leads the way and the rest of the cast push her to where she ends up, with special credit to Brooks. This is also well made with the cinematography, framing and the look of the shadowy figure being solid. My biggest issue is the pacing is bogged down by having the same arguments repeatedly. Not one that goes far enough into horror to recommend to diehards of the genre. This was fine if you enjoy psychological dramas for sure.
My Rating: 6 out of 10