[yasr_overall_rating]
An ambitious young executive is sent to retrieve his company’s CEO from an idyllic but mysterious “wellness center” at a remote location in the Swiss Alps but soon suspects that the spa’s miraculous treatments are not what they seem.
“A Cure For Wellness” begins with an interesting premise but not one that is unique. A hardworking, young, intelligent man named only as “Lockhart,” played by Dane DeHaan, is sent to retrieve the company’s CEO from a “recovery facility” nestled in the Swiss Alps. He arrives not only to find that mystery surrounds the facility, but so does danger along with an eerie cast of characters including Director Volmer (Jason Isaacs), and his “special patient” Hannah.
That interesting premise is one that could have led the story to be at least an okay film but its welcome is overstayed and accompanied by scenes and ideas that don’t fit the narrative in the least. Take for example, the eels that infest the film. There is little to no reason for them. They serve no purpose to progress the story. They do more to distract from the film’s point than to actually help it along.
Once the plot has been constructed, it sits at a standstill and begins to weaken with every passing moment. No amount of outrageous medical procedure or jump scare tactics can set its heart back to beating. The movie ultimately dies near the beginning once scenes which could have been lengthened and fed, collapse and give way to overdramatic plotlines that have splintered into dead ends. I have never been able to argue that a film was too long just because the realm that movies put you in is an incredible escape that I never seem to want to leave. That era is over for me because “A Cure For Wellness” seems to overextend itself with pointlessness that makes one want to leave the theater rather than stay rooted in the setting forever. “A Cure For Wellness” is no cure at all but rather a sickness that secured funding to grow itself into an unneeded spectacle.
In theaters Friday, February 17th
