Double Blind movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Double Blind

This mystery thriller is now playing in theaters, as well as on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Vudu.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour 30 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B

IN A NUTSHELL:

After an experimental drug trial goes awry, the test subjects face a terrifying side effect: if you fall asleep, you die.

The Irish horror flick was directed by Ian Hunt-Duffy. Writing credits go to Darach McGarrigle. In an interview, the director explained, “The best horrors always held a mirror up to society at the time, and we tried to do that with Double Blind, too, dealing with the young generations’ fear and anxiety about the future. All the characters in the film are young and directionless, they have no secure income, they are not on the property ladder, which speaks to a lot of young people’s experiences in Ireland today, unfortunately. By filtering it through the horror genre lens, it just makes any message or subtext more entertaining and digestible.”

Already, the movie has been nominated and received wins for quite a few film festival awards.

THINGS I LIKED:

Millie Brady does an excellent, believable job in this role as our troubled protagonist.
The film asks several interesting questions, such as “What are you willing to do for money?” and “What are we willing to sacrifice as a society for medical advancements?”
We see images of caged mice, suggesting that the humans are just lab rats for a Big Pharma company to make even more money.
The claustrophobic, single location ups the tension in the characters and progressively in the audience.
The cinematography by Narayan Van Maele is noticeably good.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the term and title of the movie, a double-blind study means that no one receives a placebo; everyone is given something. Oftentimes, neither the participants nor the researcher knows which pill the participants are taking until the clinical trial ends in order to reduce bias.
One of the characters is a young medical student who signed up for the trial. He figures out that they all must stay awake or they’ll die. The director revealed that he was inspired by high-concept horror films such as in The Ring (https://amzn.to/3HZPhB1
) where characters were told not to watch the videotape, or in Tremors (https://amzn.to/3uCAoSk ) where characters were told not to touch the ground. The more recent A Quiet Place ( https://moviereviewmom.com/a-quiet-place-is-gripping/ ) shows that characters should not make any sounds.
The door cracks open for a sequel. Would you want one?

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Some viewers will tire of waiting for something to happen. Acts 1 and 2 are fairly slow-moving, but things race out of control in Act 3, so be patient.
We don’t get to learn very much about all of the characters.
When the camera predictably zoomed in on the last scene, I knew exactly what effect the director was going for. Some may say it was chilling and effective, but it felt overly obvious to me.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Blood and gore
Some profanity and F-bombs
Scary images
Brutal violence

THEMES:

Medical trials
Mistrust in Big Pharma
Taking control of your own destiny
Survival
The desire to live
Vulnerability
Breaking points
Paranoia and hallucinations
Exploitation and expendability
Isolation
Control your brain and body

FUNNY LINES:

None. This is a serious drama.

INTERESTING LINES:

“You’ll be amazed at what you can do when you have to.” – Marcus (Frank Blake)
“I haven’t had an easy life. I’m still not ready for it to be over.” – Vanessa (Shonagh Marie)
“I feel like I’ve lived my whole life wrong.” – Amir (Akshay Kumar)
“Our lives are just data points on a spreadsheet.” – Amir (Akshay Kumar)