A Cure for Wellness

The movie did a great job with atmosphere and mood for sure but the hollow plot devices, shaky motives, nonsensical 'science' and the burden set upon me to suspend disbelief against all odds makes it one that I cannot recommend. It is unfortunate that they did not have a more experienced or capable writer to consult before moving ahead. I think the right person may have been able to untangle this knot of a script. All other elements were well done and I could feel the tension and sense of isolation grow throughout the film. They did so much right that it is a terrible shame that, ultimately, it went so wrong.

My goodness! Two and a half hours of absolute drivel. The worst movie I have seen in a long time. The list of things that are wrong with this movie are almost too many to list. First the good: the makers of this movie have obviously paid a lot of attention and have gone to a lot of trouble in the design of the movie. The location and the settings are stunning. The 'spa' where the story takes place is suitably unsettling and creepy. The music also is a highlight. That's where the good ends, unfortunately. The plot of this movie is an absolute mess. It seems the producers weren't sure what they were going for: Gothic horror? Dark and quirky? Straight out frightening? As a result, the finished product is none of these things. The movie swings from one improbable scenario to another. New plot elements are introduced with no relation to what has gone before. Several times the movie arrives at what seems to be a conclusion before picking itself up, introducing a hitherto unreferenced, unrelated, unnecessary and unlikely plot 'twist' and then lurching on its demented way. It's almost as if the makers finished the movie and then someone thought of something else to include - often borrowed from another, better movie - and they tacked it on the end. The movie seems interminable. Its two and a half hour run time could have been shortened by an hour and resulted in a somewhat enjoyable story. It also doesn't help that the denouement is pretty obvious quite early in the piece or that certain of the plot elements are not really explained properly or that none of the characters are likeable or worthy of the viewer's sympathy or that most of the tension is provided by the music, not by the story or acting. In short, if you're looking for a good evening's entertainment look elsewhere. This ain't it.

_A Cure for Wellness_ is most certainly not going to be for everyone. It's spectacularly, deliberately, uncomfortably ugly (albeit, in a bizarrely beautiful way). It's story is flawed, it's long (two and a half hours all told), it's slow, some of its setups don't evolve into payoffs, it's not half as mysterious or clever as it might think it is, and it can't even hold to its own mythology 100%. But I loved it. _Final rating:★★★½ - I really liked it. Would strongly recommend you give it your time._