Distorted

Ricci, at least, makes for a sympathetic protagonist; she’s extremely expressive in getting across the fortitude and drive that go along with her character’s fragility, and her screen presence is powerful enough that Lauren never comes off as simply passive or put-upon. Cusack’s role is fairly small, but he does provide some spark when he appears, cocooned in a black hoodie and sullenly spouting off conspiracy lingo and technobabble like a particularly morose associate of The X-Files‘ Lone Gunmen. The pair’s scenes together feel very much like the work of two talented old pros who’ve maybe been around the B-movie block a few times too many.

All told, Distorted doesn’t entirely waste but also doesn’t do much justice to a premise that, in the right hands, could have elicited more thrills, more relevance, or, at least, more obvious interest in its own ideas. There’s a smarter, scarier, more subversive film to be made about this subject, and for a movie that’s so concerned with the horror of planting lingering messages into unsuspecting victims’ heads, it’s unlikely to leave much of a lasting impression on viewers at all.

Distorted (2018) Directed by Rob King. Written by Arne Olsen. Starring Christina Ricci, Brendan Fletcher, John Cusack, Vicellous Shannon, Nicole Anthony, Oliver Rice, Scott Olynek, Gigi Jackman, Sophia Daly

5 out of 10