I watched Machination on a whim on Tubi. I didn't know anything about it, but I liked the cover art and had some time to kill. I watch an unhealthy number of low budget random horror films and expected this to be the same. Boy was I wrong. This is an exceptional film all about one woman's descent into madness and paranoia while living in isolation at the onset of the pandemic.
I enjoyed all aspects of this film, but all the credit goes to Steffi Thake as the lead actor. The whole film rests on her shoulders and her performance is mesmerizing. We watch her go from taking a lot of the same precautions many of us did to complete shut down. Almost the entire movie is just her in her house, and it works. As someone who isolated by myself for months in the early covid days I could relate to a lot of the paranoia and fear. I don't know anything about Thake but I will be sure to watch out for other projects with her. Be sure to check this out. This is the first film I've seen that effectively brings out those fears we all had early in the pandemic.
