Movie Name/Year:
Wounds (2019)
Genre:
Drama, Horror, Mystery
Length: 95
minutes
Rating: R
Production/Distribution:
Netflix, Hulu, Annapurna Pictures, Two & Two Pictures, AZA Films, United
Artists Releasing
Director: Babak
Anvari
Writer: Babak
Anvari, Nathan Ballingrud
Actors: Armie
Hammer, Zazie Beetz, Karl Glusman, Christin Rankins, Brad William Henke, Ben
Sanders, Alexander Biglane, Matthew Underwood, Luke Hawx, Dakota Johnson, Kerry
Cahill, Terence Rosemore, Jim Klock, Martin Bats Bradford, Creek Wilson,
Lawrence Turner, Michael Collier
Blurb from IMDb:
Disturbing and mysterious things begin to happen to a bartender in New Orleans
after he picks up a phone left behind at his bar.
Selina’s Point of View:
I’ve been looking forward to this one. The trailer looked properly
creepy and there were some decent actors lined up. Unfortunately, it seems like
the writer/director might not have known exactly how to handle this kind of
plot.
I don’t know if the problems I have with the movie are also issues
with the book – I’ve never read it. That said, I’d venture a guess that it
simply wasn’t adapted well.
The reason I’m willing to blame the movie and not the plot is
that there were holes big enough that I could almost see where other scenes
probably belonged. I imagine the book clears things up, and a lot was just cut
or altered. If it doesn’t – then I’m not entirely sure why it’s popular enough
to warrant a film.
The ideas were good. The acting wasn’t bad. Even a lot of the
dialogue felt natural. But the entire thing felt unfinished. Certain aspects of
the story were rushed and others just never had a conclusion. There were loose
threads everywhere and nothing added up in the end.
I can’t recommend Wounds. It just didn’t work.
Cat’s Point of View:
I’m
struggling with this one.
Sadly,
it’s not because I’m torn on whether I liked Wounds or not – it’s a fight to find something positive to say
about it.
Oh,
I’ve got it. It was nice to see a movie filmed in New Orleans, and this film
captured the horror of flying cockroaches excellently. There were a few moments
that my skin was crawling and I longed for a broom in hand to swat the screen.
That’s
where the praise stops, I’m afraid. The only other thing this movie was
successful in achieving was suspense. It was ploddingly slow, and just when I
thought things were about to pick up in an interesting direction…it failed to
do so.
I
don’t understand the correlation between the titular element of wounds and how
it’s connected with the elements the film spent the majority of screen-time
focusing on. It tries to come full circle at the end but falls short.
There
were so many missed opportunities here. I was initially excited to see what Armie
Hammer (Mirror Mirror, Nocturnal Animals,
Free Fire), Zazie Beetz (Wolves,
Geostorm, Deadpool 2), and Dakota Johnson (Need for Speed, Bad Times at the El Royale, The Peanut Butter Falcon)
would be bringing to the table. Unfortunately, something went askew with this
adaptation. Their performances definitely weren’t lacking, but it felt like
they were just doing the best they could with what they were given.
This
is one time, however, I am not interested in looking up the novella this film
was adapted from. Ugh, bugs.
If
you’re looking for some background noise and don’t mind the creepy crawlies, I
guess this would be OK – but it definitely doesn’t deliver on the chills and
thrills that I was hoping for in this spooky season.
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score –
50%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score –
None
Metascore –
51/100
Metacritic User Score –
2.3/10
IMDB Score –
4.1/10
CinemaScore –
None
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 1.5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 1/5
Movie Trailer:
