Armie Hammer

Dakota Johnson

Zazie Beetz

Brad William Henke

Karl Glusman

Christin Rankins

Benny Thrasher

Alexander Biglane

Matthew Underwood

Oren Hawxhurst

Kerry Cahill

Ritchie Montgomery

Terence Rosemore

Jim Klock

Martin Bats Bradford

Creek Wilson

Lawrence Turner

Xena Zeit-Geist

Kermit Burns III

Kevin Beard

Kenneth Kynt Bryan

Michael Collier

Lola Hazim

Cami Roebuck

Brooke Lyndon-Stanford

Babak Anvari

Christopher Kopp

Lucan Toh

Megan Ellison

Andrew Harvey

Jillian Longnecker

Brian Pitt

Kit Fraser

Christopher Barwell

Mark Bennett

Chad Keith

Kevin C. Lang

Adam Willis

Meagan McLaughlin

Peter A. Chevako

Nathan Ballingrud

Jennifer Jane

Natalie Christine Johnson

Ashley Treadaway

Vicki Vacca

Crystal Wells

Paulo DeFreitas Jr.

Laurie Fewell

Joe Hagg

Adele Plauche

Angela Gail Schroeder

Kelly Sweeney

Niko Zahlten

Jack Bigelow

Robert C. Bigelow

Jamie Gamache

Simon Haupt

Roland Heap

Karolina Jedrzejczyk

Kobi Quist

Marc Specter

Anna Sulley

Claudia Sanchez Torres

Ted Barba

Gregg Brazzel

Chelsea Bruland

Tom McComas

Michael Applebaum

James Langdon

Eduardo Urueña

Nick Kramer

John Richie

Michele K. Short

Meagan Lewis

Edward Hewitt Jr.

Theresa Hernandez

Heidi Bannon

Emma Villere

Rodney Williamson

Bobby Masson

Jimi Woods

Becky Bentham

Tiffany Tavares

Liam Cullen-Brooks

Sean T. Daily

Zac Frognowski

Horror

Mystery

Wounds

Annapurna Pictures

Two & Two Pictures

AZA Films

United Kingdom

United States of America

English

alcohol

hallucination

bartender

cafeteria

cockroach

demon

cell phone

based on short story

roach

drunkenness

tunnel

gnosticism

occultism

faithful adaptation

new orleans

Sheldon Nylander

This is what happens when filmmakers are more fascinated by imagery and concept but don't know how to couch them in a story.

Armie Hammer is Will, a bartender in a New Orleans bar who witnesses a fight break out one night while some college kids are in the bar (seemingly unrelated). The kids leave behind one of their phones, which contains disturbing images. All the while, his girlfriend Carrie, played by Dakota Johnson, seems to be studying occult Gnosticism, which seems to be related to what the college kids are involved in.

If you're looking for any kind of payoff in this film, you're going to be sorely disappointed. Literally, this film has no payoff. It’s more just a bunch of stuff that happens and then, BAM!, end credits. There are times that it seems like it’s going somewhere. In fact, it felt like there should have been much more interrelated stuff between different parts of the movie, such as Claire’s professor, Steve, being more developed. In fact, I definitely get the impression that this was supposed to be the case, but that it either ended up on the cutting room floor or remained concept-only. It’s possible that this happens in “The Visible Filth,” the short novel on which this movie is based, but since I haven’t read it I can’t comment on it.

The film we get is not a good film, either. The acting alternates between melodramatic and completely emotionless with no inbetween. Seriously, Brad William Henke is so over-the-top, he makes Jeremy Irons look like he was on Xanax during the “Dungeons & Dragons” movie. Dakota Johnson just sleepwalks through her entire role. Armie Hammer feels like he tries a little too hard to be the everyman. The only actor that seemed believable with genuine subtlety in their role is Zazie Beetz, but her character is pretty much superfluous to the proceedings. Her character could have been cut with little to no change to the plot.

What’s so terrible about this film, though, is the sheer frustration factor. It’s a great idea. I would have loved to see more and have the movie cleaned up to be more cohesive and have an actual payoff. But we’re denied all of this. I love the concept of basing a film around occult Gnosticism. However, it’s set in such a poor movie that by the end, I found myself wringing my hands less out of fear or feelings of bugs crawling on you (which you might get) and more out of frustration for failure to realize its potential and seeing very easily how it could have been saved. When you’re doing the filmmakers work for them, they’ve got a problem.

Gimly

Millenial Armie Hammer, calls a group of Gen Z-ers, "Fucking Millenials".

I was **really** disappointed with _Wounds_. Not about the above, just like... In general.

_Final rating:★½: - Boring/disappointing. Avoid where possible._

The Movie Diorama

Wounds adds salt to the horrific lacerations by simply doing nothing with its premise. Metaphysical tears in a relationship, ‘The Visible Filth’, can deteriorate the mind and the soul of both individuals. The streams of sorrow and regret, taking control of thoughts and actions. An unfortunate circumstance that is experienced by the most enraptured of couples. So I’m somewhat confused. No wait, I’m terribly befuddled. Anvari previously directed an apparent debut horror masterpiece with ‘Under the Shadow’ (I’ve yet to see it...), and decided to venture into the Hollywood mainstream with this psychological mess. Only one question overwhelmed my brain during the final cockroach-infested scene: “What. In the actual. Heck?”.

A bartender breaks up a brawl and picks up a lost mobile phone that was left by some underaged students. He happens to guess the password on his second attempt based on the screen smudges and slowly becomes possessed by something from the “tunnel”.

The titular metaphor is one that requires little to no effort in depicting. Wounds in a relationship force the participants to become distant and more aggressive. That much is clear, and Anvari sets a melodramatic tone from the initial bar sequence that overpowers the “horror” elements. Then Hammer grabs the mobile phone, tests its durability by slamming it a decent six times throughout the film, and thus begins the narrative collapse.

Irrefutably, without batting an eyelid, I can confidently say nothing happened in this feature. Absolutely zero progression. The final minute of filming replicated the initial minute in terms of development. Every single character was unlikeable. Every single jump scare was a bloodshot eye flashing on the screen in rapid succession accompanied by a piercing noise. The plot is near incomprehensible due to forced underdeveloped horror elements that had no resonation with the melodramatic moments. Gnostic rituals? Dimensional portal from a well-rounded man’s face? Profusely sweaty armpits? Thematically and literarily, the plot is nullified by unintelligent tendencies that irritate this wounded flick.

Such a stellar cast wasted on a potboiler script. Hammer deserves better. Beetz deserves better. Johnson definitely deserves better. I’m at a loss. I really am. The inexplicable character choices, from refusing to hand the phone to the police to even unlocking the device in the first place, left me facepalming on multiple occasions. Oh, and serving underaged persons. Come on! The plot conveniences that make little to no sense, from the unexplained students in this cultish circle to the entire final five minute idiocy, hampered the psychological examination of a broken relationship. Is anything actually explained? I shan’t know as I drifted in and out of sleep for the conclusive thirty minutes. The amount of alcohol consumption? Adultery? Stealing?

There really is nothing to admire here. A huge misfire for Anvari that has cemented this VOD original securely as one of the worst of the year. It was over an hour and a half yet it felt like three hours. That, in itself, has wounded me. The recovery will be long and arduous...

This is trash horror done really well. If you're looking for something meaningful, you're looking in the wrong place, but it's got some laudable artistry behind it.

I expected more considering the cast. This was disappointing to a disturbing level. The movie drags on and ON, alluding to something vague and undefined that's really scary and seemingly about to happen. Sadly, it never does. And if you, like myself, and squeamish about bugs, huge cockroaches specifically, do not watch this film. Seriously, avoid it at all costs!

Official International Trailer

Official Trailer

Wounds( 2019)

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A review by Sheldon Nylander

Written by Sheldon Nylander on Mon Oct 21 2019

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