Hammer’s performance is unhinged, insane, and totally relatable which makes it all the more terrifying as his world begins to crumble around him. Johnson further pays penance for the Fifty Shades movies and solidifies her horror cred as the one who observes her boyfriend’s mental departure with concern and insatiable curiosity. Then there’s Beetz and their verboten love interest and Henke as the insufferable Eric. A small cast here with everyone delivering wonderful work. Still, this is Hammer’s movie, and damn, he turns it out.
“Hammer’s performance is unhinged, insane, and totally relatable…”
Wounds is a profane exploration of secrecy, identity, relationships, and the taboo. A weird mix, sure, but it is all about the things so awful they are too difficult to speak of. Anvari takes these notions and infuses creepy crawly cockroaches, dismemberment, disfigurement, trust, and an unreliable narrator that we are not sure is all there. Then there is the sound design. Damn. A team of disturbingly talented people creates a soundscape that slurps, flutters and buzzes all around the audience more and more as the insanity takes over.
I have to say that I had no idea what was coming, and I am glad for it. Wounds is one F’d up exploration of the demons we carry with us and the urge we have to let them out.
Wounds (2019) Written and directed by Babak Anvari. Starring Dakota Johnson, Armie Hammer, Zazie Beetz, Brad William Henke, Karl Glusman.
8 out of 10 stars
[…] THR‘s David Rooney believes Anvari “remains a skilled craftsman,” and in his review for Film Threat, Norman Gidney writes, “Wounds is a visceral, disturbing descent into the destruction of a man […]
[…] THR‘s David Rooney believes Anvari “stays a talented craftsman,” and in his overview for Film Threat, Norman Gidney writes, “Wounds is a visceral, disturbing descent into the destruction of a person […]
[…] Nic Cage-esque performance as the bartender increasingly on the verge of some kind of breakdown. For Film Threat, Norman Gidney writes, “Hammer’s performance is unhinged, insane, and totally relatable,” while David Rooney at The […]