Double Blind

At a tidy 90 minutes, this film is a great way to spend a night. I knew very little about it going in, and I was pleasantly surprised that it blended several genres pretty seamlessly. It wasn't a simple one note kitschy movie, although it certainly could have been with the general plot line.

It goes beyond the premise of the sleep trial to build characters and tensions between them in times of stress and dire need, even outside of somewhat silly premises as this one. The premise makes it a fun ride though, and kudos to the actors and director for taking it so seriously and making a thriller, suspense movie with mystery and horror thrown in.

At the time of this writing, the average is 5.5, which is much too low. It's a 7.5 for me, but rounding up to help the average.

If you enjoy the genre, you will enjoy this one.

Double Blind: Claire (Millie Brady) is broke so she volunteers as a guinea pig to test an experimental drug. Along with six others she will be incommunicado for five days, Most of those involved have taken part in many tests, it is literally a job for them. When things start to go wrong, the doctor ( Pollyanna McIntosh) supervising the test contacts the pharmaceutical company executives but is told to continue and up the dose. As things worsen, Claire and the others cannot sleep and wish to quit the trial but are offered 30,000 euros each to continue, Eventually a participant dies, it becomes clear that the test subjects must stay awake if they are to survive (Not A spoiler, this is flagged in all publicity for the film). The survivors are then sealed inside the laboratory for at least 24 hours as an emergency protocol kicks in.. Some particularly gruesome death scenes with the victims looking as if they are suffering from a Rabies/Ebola hybrid disease. Claire and the others start to become paranoid due to lack of sleep and begin to mistrust each other. An interesting examination of drug tests on marginalised people counterposed with those on mice showing how to Big Pharma both are equally disposable. This idea is taken to some frightening lengths. Pretty good dialogue, especially when the participants record their musings to their phones: one: about how much compensation he might get due to the trial going wrong; others more bleakly leaving last messages, This "found footage" helps to round some of the characters' back stories. A disturbing, violent tale of horror, existential despair and exploitation. Directed by Ian Hunt-Duffy, Written by Darach McGarrigle. 8/10.

So about half way threw I realised I've seen this film about 3 times. With the Russian sleep experiment and about 2 more amazon prime films about the same thing. Group of people doing an experiment. People die bla bla bla.

The acting is not great but I've seen worst I guess. The problem with these films is there very bland. The setting is by nature very boring. The people that do the study are very or below average no interesting characters. It never ever makes for a good or interesting film but I keep watching them because in theory it should make a exciting good horror film. Come on someone get it right.

Claire (Millie Brady) participates in a drug trial run by Dr. Burke (Pollyanna McIntosh). It is in a basement level of Back Wood Pharmaceuticals and the group has to stay there for five full days.

It is a simple small Irish horror. It has a small set and a small cast. That's all fine. The concept is simple. Again, that's fine. My biggest issue is that this made me sleepy. It is the theory of the yawn. When one person yawns, it infects the rest of the group and everybody starts yawning. The movie is basically talking about a yawn and daring the audience to follow suit. It makes me sleepy. Otherwise, this is fine.

The idea of medical trials going wrong is not new. Maniac, Tell me how I Die, Inhumane, Altered Perception are examples and all in the last ten years. But this was way more watchable. This was actually good.

The characters were believable. There was no identity politics. The script and plot kept bouncing along nicely. I felt invested in the characters and their motivations and traits. And lastly, their actions made logical sense.

I liked the 'warped' reality of their psychosis due to sleep deprivation. And the ending rounded things off quite nicely.

The production values and direction were good enough.

Overall, I would recommend checking this out.