MovieChat Forums > Regression (2015) Discussion > Problem was the marketing, not the movie...

Problem was the marketing, not the movie SPOILERS

posted 8 years ago by tobridges
8 replies | jump to latest

People were expecting the wrong movie.

This wasn't a cop thriller, a mystery, or a horror movie. It was simply a drama looking at how people fell for all that SRA crap back during the Satanic panic era. The "twist" wasn't lame because there was no twist. It made clear from the beginning that the accusations were bogus (by referencing that it was inspired by other Satanic panic cases).

Throughout the "investigation" we're shown just how such mistakes are made: by investigators asking leading questions during interviews, by mental health professionals practicing half-baked techniques, and by all involved letting their imaginations get the better of them, leading to widespread hysteria.

Many of the things depicted in the movie actually happened in the late 80s and early 90s. There was a book (later discredited) by a so-called survivor of SRA that cops really used in investigations. There were TV specials like the ones Hawke's character was watching that helped spread the panic. And there were kids who just made up stuff...and parents who pled5 guilty to sex crimes they never committed.

I think the problem is that people went into the movie with mistaken expectations because of the way it's been described. If you were expecting a thriller or horror movie and didn't remember much about Satanic panic, then yeah, you'd be disappointed.

Think of this more like a Lifetime movie, but with much better writing, actors, and production values.

[–] mechajutaro 8 years ago

Well said, Bridges. More honest if not necessarily crafty marketing would've likened Regression to a film such as the superb but barbarically underseen Shattered Glass

[–] janus3 8 years ago

damn, shattered glass, what a great film.

[–] Meven_Stoffat 8 years ago

The twist was fine.

It was how they built up to it and how they resolved it that was the problem. They basically had us go through the trouble of watching everyone become convinced of the cult then suddenly "lol there was no cult". I get that the hysteria everyone was under was a huge theme but it wasn't very well executed. Then at the end after the reveal, it was over in 10 seconds. They didn't even offer much of an explanation as to why she hates her family or why she made it up.

Not a bad film, just a disappointing one.

[–] bdhrentertainment 8 years ago

As I said above, you must have been asleep or really did not pay attention. All of this is really laid out, but I'll spell it out for you....

With that said, obviously there's going to be SPOILERS:

The dad threw out the brother cause he was gay.
The dad was abusive to their mom.
They lived in that run down house, in which the family horded stuff.
Watson blamed the dad for the mom's death.
They forced Watson to get an abortion.
The dad was an alcoholic.

She fell for the cop. Got pregnant. Then was forced into an abortion and dumped on top of that.

I think she had plenty of reason to make up the story. The toughest part was seeing the dad acknowledging what he had done, even though he wasn't a Satanist and he didn't molest her, and willing to go to jail.

[–] Shimmer_Me_Timbers 8 years ago

The pregnancy/abortion thing was made up by Ethan Hawk's character to confirm that Emma Watson's character was lying about the whole situation.

It started out simply as a way to get herself out of the house - since her man friend wouldn't run away with a minor the only other way she could think of was accusing her dad of abuse. The whole satanic cult was brought in during the initial hypno-regression session with the dad.

[–] vergeofchaos-60-49100 8 years ago

I went into this movie knowing nothing. All I had to go on was Amazon's description "a father is arrested for a crime he can't remember committing"

This movie was really bad. The biggest problem I had with the movie was the actual investigation...

There was never any evidence of any crime being committed.

You can't detain a cop because he's a cop lol that's just absurd.

Since the charges against the cop were dropped, he wouldn't have lost his job.

Without evidence of a crime, there is no WAY the DA would ask the father to plead guilty.

It goes on and on, but aside from the lame story and stupid twist, this movie was just awful.

[–] Eyeball-Chambers 8 years ago

Also, they released the cop because he passed two lie detector tests.

WTF? How is that, hold it...what?

[–] maximusveritas 8 years ago

You have the daughter alleging the crime and the father confessing. That's all you need. This wasn't a murder, so what kind of evidence could you get?
I didn't understand the charges against the cop either. Maybe if this was set in the 50s or 60s, some of that would have been plausible, but it seemed to be more in the 90s when that wouldn't have gone down like that.