Panic Fest Film Festival Coverage
Psychosis review.
A stylish trip through a film noir world. Pure creativity and unflinching weirdness.
Festival movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Psychosis
Directed by Pirie Martin
Written by Pirie Martin
Starring Derryn Amoroso, Kate Holly Hall, Henry Errington, Michael Wilkop, Pj van Gyen and James McKulskey-Garcia
Psychosis Review
One of the odder movies at this year’s Panic Fest (and that’s saying something) is a stylish film noir called Psychosis. It’s a difficult movie to explain. At its core it’s about a hard-boiled fixer who finds himself embroiled in an increasingly strange investigation. That’s the best I can try to break it down to one simple sentence. But it doesn’t even scratch the surface of what Psychosis is.
Let’s begin with the main character. Cliff Van Aarle (Derryn Amoroso) has a fractured psyche. He always hears the voices in his head. By extension, so do we. The most dominant one serves as a narrator to Van Aarle’s life. A reliable narrator for an unreliable mind. The voice is a constant companion that gives us a clear insight into how Van Aarle’s mind works. We understand how he sees the world, perceives situations, reacts internally to everything. It makes the character’s journey more impactful. It’s not just a gimmick either. The running narration is important to the way Psychosis works. As strange as it sounds…the narrator is one of the things that makes the most sense in this movie.
That’s because the movie is bonkers. Shot in a claustrophobic 1:1 aspect ratio (think more compact than old TV shows), Psychosis shows us things we’ve never seen before in ways we’ve never seen anything. We’re talking a mind-controlling antagonist with an army of zombies. A vigilante named LoneWolf (Pj van Gyen) who works alone…and dresses like a wolf. The black and white production throws in very occasional shots in color…your guess is as good as mine.
With a constant rumble of voices, characters that defy logic, and a commitment to a noir-based story…Psychosis is a wild time. Van Aarle is looking for a way out of the business. He initially turns down the job presented by his handler Hess (Kate Holly Hall) …but figures he can use the money to help his comatose sister Louisa. He meets with two drug dealers who tell tales of zombie-like creatures. The investigation reveals Joubini (James Mccluskey-Garcia), a drug lord with mind-control abilities, who has created a slew of these “Hollow Men”.
One scene in Psychosis evokes George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. Others may remind you of David Lynch’s Eraserhead. Writer/director Pirie Martin has crafted a surrealist noir nightmare world and sent a man with a broken mind on a quest to discover how it works. Some of the best films are the ones you watch and say…no one gave this director any notes. Martin gets his fully realized vision on the screen. Whether we understand everything or not…whether we like the movie or not…there is a pure creative art on display that is undeniable.
There’s a good chance that you will like Psychosis. It’s so unique and complete in its vision that you’ll be too engrossed in what’s happening (and what might happen next) to notice its flaws in the moment. It might be a little too long. The performances might not all ring true. Not everything makes complete sense. Or…maybe it’s perfect. It can be difficult to tell. The truth is that Psychosis opens the door to a world of limitless possibilities. You can’t know what is going to walk through that door next. That’s one of the most exciting prospects a film can offer.
This Australian import layers buckets of style and madness on top of a surreal detective story. There is a familiar structure beneath all the wild impulses that keeps things from going off track more than intended. One of the more unique, strangest movies to come around in some time. Whether it’s fully your cup of tea or not…you have to respect Martin’s ability to create something new…something unique. A pure representation of unfettered creativity. Even when you have no idea what was going on.
Scare Value
It runs a bit long…but maintains its fascinating style throughout. You’ll know inside of two minutes if you’re going to enjoy Psychosis. It only gets crazier from there. A unique movie that layers surreal ideas on top of its hard-boiled film noir plot. The use of narration is genius. A bundle of bold choices. Most of them pay off.
3.5/5
