Unhinged (2020)

Dir Derrick Borte

Written by Carl Ellsworth

Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius, Gabriel Bateman, Jimmi Simpson, Austin P McKenzie.

The day after he has murdered his ex wife and her new partner, a man (Crowe) has an altercation with Rachel (Pistorius) on the road. She herself is having a bad day – and soon he is taking his anger out on her – and begins stalking her and those around her.

There are some decent action scenes within the film –predominately with car chases between the man and Rachel. There is also a surprising amount of violence, with the man acting his ‘revenge’ on Rachels friends and family.

The two primary cast members, Crowe and Pistorius, who are both from New Zealand and neither are American, both put on flawless accents, with Crowe putting on his version of a Southern accent. He gives a genuinely frightening performance. Rachel’s characterisation is somewhat apathetic in the beginning of the film, and takes a while to warm up to.

There is a very engaging score that plays throughout the film, and through a well structured opening credits sequence. I’ve always loved when films still feature these, as I think it helps really open the film. The inclusion of Don’t Fear the Reaper while the closing credits played, almost gave a horror film vibe to it.

The screenplay works well, and there are moments you either genuinely fear for some of the characters on screen who the man is engaged with, or genuinely surprised at his actions.

I went in not really expecting much from this. I really debated my rating for this, and if you ignore the ‘realism’ of what the characters can withstand (like the one on one fight scenes with the man and Rachel) or lack of police action, then you’re really going to enjoy this. While the overall ‘story’ has been done time and time again, this was a decent take on the trope of one character stalking another for no reason.

I’ve now added Patreon to my links on my home screen, if you’re able to please check it out, and any members are greatly appreciated.