A Cure for Hollywood Regurgitations

Hollywood typically relies on sequels and reboots of oftentimes forgotten, discarded or reliably profit-generating stories. How pleasant was it to see something fresh this opening weekend in a "Cure for Wellness". I anticipated this movie for months and the results are mixed. While the movie freely copies many scenes from films such as Hostel, The Shining and Shutter Island to name a few, it manages to create something unnerving. It lies in that space between the thriller and horror genre, while at the same time dipping its toes in the murky waters of fantasy and surrealism. It seems that the script writer/director combo did not know whether the movie should be a thriller a la "The Game" or a boogeyman story. The casting is top notch which provides an immediate sense of immersion and believability. Even minor characters with but a handful of lines were carefully chosen, as was the locale. The beautiful scenery of Switzerland immediately transports the viewer and serves as a stark and bright contrast and as a counterpoint to the opening foreboding and claustrophobic nameless city which serves as the background hub for the illnesses of mankind. The acting and delivery of lines of each of the characters is memorable and believable as well. The main character especially takes freely from the "DiCaprio" school of delivery of certain lines of dialogue, going even so far as to mimic the facial grimaces of one of the top Hollywood actors.
While the first part of the movie works extremely well and is wholly believable, it starts to fall apart starting with the "dentist" scene. Up until that point it seems that everything that has taken place fits perfectly like a puzzle and keeps cranking up the level of dread and uncertainty as to what is really going on at the sanatorium. But this is where the movie turns into the horror-boogeyman/evil adversary territory, and all dread and uncertainty disappears as well as any suspense about what is going. The hallmark of a great thriller is that it always keeps you unbalanced with each new turn of the plot negating your previous certainty about the characters' intentions. That's what puts Basic Instinct on the Mount Rushmore of thrillers. In this movie the pacing of a carefully crafted beautiful thriller turns into a heavy-handed rushed linear horror plot which attempts to answer interesting questions from the 1st part of the movie with quick and incomplete explanations that don't quite make sense.
It's as if the director realized that the movie was already pushing 2.5 hours and it was time to wrap up the story. If you enjoy thrillers you will love the first part of the movie. If you love Hostel-types then the 2nd half of this movie is for you. Ultimately it fails to please both fans and settles for something in the middle. This was a potentially great idea that was poorly executed mainly due to heavy-handed, hero-saves-the-day 2nd act of the film that destroys the suspense that existed in the 1st act.
There are more than a few unanswered questions at the end of the film that leaves one feeling dehydrated of sensible ideas. How exactly were the patients convinced that they were getting better, not worse? How did the baron turn "unwilling" into "willing" participants? Why did the patients started acting like zombies in the "dining hall" scene? Why was Hannah taking so long to become a woman? Everything that had to do with genesis, biology, properties of the eels was completely ignored save for but one sentence about their longevity. These are but a few of the poorly explained or completely unexplained plot points.
Overall it is encouraging to see that movies such as this are still being made in Holeiwood. An interesting idea, even a half-baked one is more entertaining than an average one that is well executed.
Casting: A, Cinematography: A-, Dialogue: B+, Acting: B, Plot (1st half): A, Plot (2nd half): C-, Overall: B-