REGRESSION

Minnesota, 1990. An unpleasant case of domestic sexual violence against young Angela Gray shakes a peaceful countryside village, already in the grip of a collective psychosis following the spread of the phenomenon of satanic cults and everything that comes with it, from black masses to human sacrifices. Detective Bruce Kenner follows the case and does not have to make much effort to discover the culprit, as the crime is immediately self-confessed by John Gray, the girl's father, whose memories seem confused and unclear for an exhaustive and complete investigation. To try to sort out the facts, Kenner decides to seek the advice of Dr. Raines, a psychologist who uses the method of regression to bring back the hidden memories in the accused's mind. The sessions proceed successfully, the results seem satisfactory, but the truths that come out are crueler and more frightening than expected, and the one who suffers the consequences is the detective himself, whose mind becomes prey to nightmares and visions that cloud his reason. The thriller has always found fertile ground in psychology, in the dream dimension, and in the protagonists' clairvoyance capabilities, using them as a complex narrative tool to develop, but precious to make the story as captivating as possible. We know this well in Italy, where the "spaghetti thriller" saw memory as a means to remember and discover a decisive detail to solve the mystery, and many foreign authors know this well too, who have learned this lesson to rework it in their own way, adapting it to the tastes of the contemporary public and mixing it with other influences, mainly from the United States. Among these, a prominent place has been earned by the Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar, whom the most will remember for that gem that is "The Others", but who had already stood out in the genre with the brilliant "Tesis" and "Abre los ojos". After a brief immersion in drama with "Mare Dentro" (a film that consecrated him with the victory of an Oscar) and "Agora", Amenábar returns to his old love with his latest work titled "Regression". It is an attempt, only partially successful, to mix thriller atmospheres with those of demonic-stamped horror with the intention of giving the film a dark look and, at the same time, dragging the spectator into a story where what dominates is the psychological delirium of the characters and the continuous distortion of the reality of the facts. As can be inferred from the title, the director's intention is to return to the origins and his previous thrillers in which every detail had a specific importance and, especially in the second film, it was difficult both for the spectator and for the protagonists to distinguish what was real from what was only a dream or a simple vision. To achieve this goal, the screenplay, written by Amenábar himself, focuses with reason on detective Kenner, showing us a figure that, although strong in appearance, is weak in spirit and easy prey to temptations and manipulations by the Devil, who, unlike many other films in which he is a tangible presence, acts in the shadows, eroding the protagonist's certainties through Angela's stories and the signals coming from the media. Effective, in this direction, are the sequences in which the man manifests siege manias in the street or those of the dream in which he finds an outlet for his morbid attraction towards the young Angela. Unfortunately, however, this admirable and well-conceived device collapses miserably at the moment when it decides to take a decidedly police and giallo turn, decimated by too many holes in the script and a final twist widely predictable and rather forced. The best results are achieved when the more strictly horror soul of the story prevails, and it is here that the direction seems more secure and capable of creating tenebrous atmospheres, as demonstrated by the really well-executed sequence in which Kenner, listening to the recordings of Angela's testimonies, ventures into an old shack enveloped in darkness where the suspension between reality and imagination becomes the main device to instill fear. Also noteworthy are the carefully crafted makeups of the sect members, whose disfigured and witch-like faces envelop them appropriately in a supernatural dimension very effective in the scenes of the newborn's sacrifice and the disturbing embrace with the red-hooded woman. Of absolute level, the cast composed of two international stars like Emma Watson and Ethan Hawke, both very good and perfectly fitting into their roles, to whom experienced actors are added, capable of holding the scene well, among them a David Thewlis in the role of the psychologist who can be considered a fundamental character for the development of the story. "Regression", in conclusion, is certainly not a great film nor one of Amenábar's best, but it is nevertheless a good product written and directed with mastery, to which, however, that extra something is missing to make the definitive quality leap.