{Movie Review} Disquiet is a Disorienting Disco Nightmare

Disquiet hits the screen moving at Mach ten. We get about a paragraph worth of Sam’s (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) back story before we are catapulted into the action. While Disquiet has some problems, NO ONE will claim it is boring. The action is consistent, and the pacing anxiety inducing as the audience tries to keep up with the bizarre new world Sam encounters in the hospital. Writer/Director Michael Winnick provides a flawed but interesting surreal landscape that makes up for its relatively weak character development with a funky and terrifying style that drew me in.

Mostly the bones of the story are pretty basic. After a near-fatal car accident, Sam (Meyers) wakes to discover he is trapped in an abandoned hospital by mysterious and sinister forces that have no intention of letting him leave. He must come to grips with his past mistakes to move on from the hospital. But hey no one likes dealing with our past, especially if we sucked back in the day.

From the get-go, Sam is assaulted by patients of the hospital. Each new monster feels ripped from a Silent Hill game based in a rundown hospital. The small cast also adds to the video game feel as Sam must help and get help from a variety of companions he meets along the way as he tries to make his way to the lobby. As new monsters are introduced, and old ones return, the big bads seem to grow more bloodthirsty and crazy as the film progresses. There is a bit of lip service paid to this rise in violence, but it’s not necessary. Once the movie starts to feel like a video game, the bosses get harder. It’s a given.

The new scare in every room, coupled with fascinating aesthetic choices, gives Disquiet a comic book-like vibe as well. Each new room a new comic cell to be examined for clues. The only thing missing would be added graphics like BANG!!! or POW!!!

The journey itself might get a little tiresome if each level and monster didn’t carry with them so many interesting aesthetic choices. Perhaps leading the charge on the monster front would be a trio of plastic surgery victims who could double as early-stage cenobites. If the monsters weren’t scary, the movie wouldn’t work at all. However, Winnick labors to make all of the monsters feel menacing.

The main characters are almost victims of these monsters multiple times, but mostly they are victims of the brutal pacing of the film that pushes the action along. We get very little time to get to know any of them. This is especially true of Sam. We get some backstory through flashbacks about his relationship with his wife and his infidelity, which seems to influence all aspects of their current relationship. At best, Sam becomes an audience surrogate who seems equally surprised at where he has ended up and what is happening to him. A result of that choice leaves him with very little agency and even less development. While Meyers does a lot with the minimal amount he is given, Sam still feels only partially developed. The rest of the cast performs their roles admirably, especially Virgil (Garry Chalk). Virgil, whose name might imply, becomes one of Sam’s guides. He exudes a sweet and calm energy which gives him a golden retriever feel, which in a movie that feels like a darker version of Oz or Wonderland is a nice relief.

The premise of Disquiet is interesting enough to draw audiences in. The neon-drenched color palette does enough to keep people engaged. At its core, Disquiet uses a rather well-trodden biblical allegory of heaven and hell to tell us a story of personal redemption and terror. The movie itself is nothing new but does offer a variety of interesting frights, along with a mystery that feels closer to an escape room movie without the novelty of a real solution. Do you go up, or do you go down? That’s the game to figure out. It is mostly a question of elevation. The climax of the film is confusing and chilling as characters reoccur but this time as different characters in flashbacks.

I expected some Shyamalan-like clarification with the twist. Winnick isn’t interested in that level of explanation but rather wants the audience to flesh out an interpretation that suits them. If you are willing to put in the work, Disquiet might be just the kind of movie for you. Disquiet comes out in select theaters, on digital and on demand February 10^th