Psychosis

This independent feature, written and directed by Pirie Martin is an experimental film that works on so many levels. The script depicts psychosis as a functional condition which the actor Derryn Amoroso plays brilliantly.

While you are left questioning what is real or not, the main character van Aarl along with the voices in his head lead the viewer on a wild journey into the drug underworld.

The actor playing the drug lord, Joubini, adds a menacingly 'other world' aspect to the story as does vigilante Lone Wolf.

The black and white square format also adds to the mysterious ride of your life.

This was a movie that I got the chance to see thanks to Mitch from Millennial PR. This is a movie that has been doing the festival rounds and is slated to release to Tubi and VOD in October. I was informed that it could be watched and reviewed at once so I slated it into my views. Outside of knowing that this was in the horror genre, I came into seeing this blind.

Synopsis: a criminal fixer who experiences auditory hallucinations must confront old demons when a new contract drags him into a surreal maelstrom of mind-altering drugs, delusional vigilantes and a sadistic hypnotist who seems more monster than man.

We start this by hearing odd voices. They're saying different things and it is disorienting. Like the synopsis says, this is what our lead character hears regularly. He is Cliff Van Aarle (Derryn Amoroso). He is also the fixer from the synopsis. Cliff meets with two drug dealers, Brodie McAllister (Henry Errington) and Aaron Birch (Michael Wilkop). There are dead bodies here. What is interesting is that they thought they were zombies. There is a drug that makes people mindless and move that way. They're asking Cliff's help to clean this up and he's torn on what to do.

Cliff then seeks out Hess (Kate Holly Hall). She apologizes for sending the dealers his way. She also knows about his condition. It seems like she helps him with getting in touch with those that are needing his help. Things are also more complicated than he originally thought. The duo took the recipe for a drug from Joubini (James McCluskey-Garcia). He is an enigma. No one seems to know where to find him.

It is from here that Cliff goes on an odd journey to discover what he can. This leads him to meet a street dealer named Skeleton (Dorian Tisato). Cliff tortures him for information. This gives him his first lead. He also meets LoneWolf (Pj van Gyen), an odd guy who dresses like a wolf. This odd journey leads everyone to the desert and a bunker. Brodie and Aaron are taken, so Cliff must get there before it is too late.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. I'll be honest, this movie was a difficult one to follow. I think that this does good things. It is an arthouse film as well, so keep that in mind. This is going to be one where I think a smaller group of people are going to love it with the majority not being fans. It is an experience for sure.

Now that I've set that up, I want to start filmmaking. The first thing is that it is filmed in black and white. That is an interesting stylistic choice. I believe it was done since this in the vein of Film Noir. We have Cliff investigating what is happening and looking for Joubini. He isn't a private detective or a police officer, which would put it more into a neo noir. I don't know if they lit it as well as they could, but I respect the artistic choice. Then going with this, it is interesting to have our lead be as mentally unstable as he is. We hear a variety of voices that are telling Cliff things. This did become distracting. I did think it was funny that we have a narrator, Lindsay Dunn, that our lead hears. Hess knows about that as well. That was an interesting choice. The effects that we got were good and this was done well enough.

With that fleshed out, I want to delve more into the story. I'll be honest, I originally thought that Cliff was a psychiatrist. I'm not fully sure why though. It is interesting that he's a 'fixer'. He's been called in to clean up what Brodie and Aaron did. This then becomes a wild ride to find Joubini. Cliff being mentally unstable is interesting as it made me question what we were seeing being real. Then you have quirky characters like LoneWolf, Skeleton, Testosterone & Testostertwo (both played by Adam MacNeill). Even Joubini is odd when we finally see him. This kept me engaged to see who we'd meet next.

There isn't much more to go into for the story so let's shift over to the acting. I thought that Amoroso was solid as this guy who is hearing voices and trying to keep his reality straight. He isn't great but works. I do love this recurring joke about him needing coffee. It seems to be to help keep his mind straight as well. Hall was fine as his almost sidekick. Errington and Wilkop are fine to start the story. Van Gyen, McCluskey-Garcia, Mark Healy, Tisato and MacNeill are all characters. Something I haven't brought up is that Louisa, who is played by Louise Byrne, is Cliff's sister. She is in a coma and where this movie ends is intriguing. Other than that, Dunn, the other voices Cliff hears and the rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed.

I don't think there is anything else that I needed to delve into here. This does interesting things with filmmaking. We get stylistic choices there that put this into being an arthouse film. I'm not sure that it fully works though. It was difficult at times to keep things straight that I was seeing. I thought that the acting was good. There are interesting decisions that I enjoyed. I think it could have been tightened up though that would make this work better for me.

My Rating: 5.5 out of 10.

It's refreshing to see a writer/director sensitively portray a mental disorder as 'Fixer' Van Aarl who has psychosis embarks on a mission to track down drug dealer and his father's nemesis, Joubini. Voices guide Van Aarl as he confronts zombies, street thugs and Joubini's henchmen as he becomes obsessed with stopping Joubini from doing more harm. Lone Wolf adds to the maelstrom.

The square format emphasises Van Aarl's psychosis creating an experience for the viewer few movies achieve. The voices, some louder than others, and the Narrator extend a unique insight into those affected by psychosis.

I love finding a unique, bold and interesting film. Psychosis is an absolute gem of a find!

A black and white thriller/horror, rare peeps of colour to highlight certain moments, a 1:1 aspect ratio, with a killer score sucked me straight into the world of this film. Not to mention the immersive auditory experience of the main characters many voices talking in your ears. HIGHLY RECOMMEND: watching with head phones or surround sound!

Psychosis is like an experimental multisensory art exhibition with a daring creative vision flawlessly achieved by its writer and director Pirie Martin. Every detail of every moment feels it has strong purpose and thought to the world building and storytelling. There are a number of scenes and shots in this film that now live rent free in my brain.

Can't fault it. Striking, unusual, immersive. Loved it!