Reviewing "Unsane": A very entertaining thriller about stalkers and mental institutions

Unsane is a psychological horror/thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring Claire Foy as protagonist Sawyer Valentini who is paranoid about a stalker coming back into her life, but when she visits a psychiatrist, she is wrongfully committed to a mental institution. Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah, Juno Temple also star.

This is a psychological horror and thriller film and focuses greatly on Sawyer's mental state as she questions her sanity while in the institution. We view the events through Sawyer's perspective, and she is so fraught with tension and paranoia, that we the viewer is never quite sure if what we're seeing is real or just a figment of Sawyer's imagination as her stress and her worries catch up to her. Claire Foy's performance is compelling and honest, and allows viewers to easily get invested in the character and sympathize with her even as she gets quite aggressive and rude with the other inmates and the staff, though she certainly has good enough reason for her behavior. Viewers can also feel her anger and confusion, which comes across very well thanks to Claire Foy's performance. Jay Pharaoh plays Nate, a fellow inmate who knows the inner workings of the institution and guides Sawyer through the first steps of her stay. Juno Temple is also delightfully entertaining as an unhinged inmate who mistakes Sawyer for a woman named Allison and constantly antagonizes her without much prompting.

The "gimmick" behind the film is also brilliantly appropriate. Filming the movie with an iPhone creates a sense of claustrophobia that allows us to feel exactly how Sawyer feels throughout the film, as though her stalker might be watching and how she feels boxed in at every moment, with her unable to connect with anyone around her. Certain shots will rely greatly on close-ups to create a sense of constant unease and disorientation as well.

Something I really like about this film is how Sawyer's mother is not only a helpful presence in her life, she is also competent in attempting to help her daughter out of her situation, going all the way to the mental institution to do the best she could, and her scenes with Sawyer are all very genuine and well-acted.

On the whole, this is a well-acted and tense psychological thriller about stalking and wrongful commitment to mental institutions. Excellent!

Score: 9/10