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If the surreal dreamscapes that propelled ‘Inception’ had taken place in the deep, dark, and dubious recesses of a deeply disturbed adolescent girl’s mind, it would look a lot like Anna. It is messier than a teenager’s bedroom while also overstuffed with unnecessary aspects that burden the plot.
This psychological thriller is about a so-called John Washington, a memory detective who, like Mark Strong a regular in Guy Ritchie’s films, has the ability to remotely view flashbacks. He was once a brilliant self-deductive. Ever since his wife committed suicide and he suffered a stroke in the midst of a session gone awry, he has gradually lost his touch.
After a two-year low period without much funding, he accepts a grant to investigate a 16-year-old Anna (Taissa Farmiga, who shows promise) who is gifted yet haunted, as the files state. Living under vigilant monitoring in a claustrophobic upper room of a frightening mansion she has not eaten for a week, cut herself before, and engages in sexually questionable acts at her school. His task is clear, figure out whether the trauma of her life accounts for her behavior or whether she is a dangerous sociopath that needs to be hospitalized.
Naturally, Anna’s family is more Addams than Brady. Her pregnant stepmom on the father’s side, who is a dressing wearing truly bizarre French maid costumes, is well known for drowning her contempt within the bottle while the housekeeper serves the children. While the housekeeper rides on a broom, Anna’s caring mother is also a bit of a cucu.
While we follow Anna’s journey into recollection, there are several possible triggers. One such image is her being locked in a closet and bleeding while clutching onto a letter opener. But more troubling is John’s discovery, after doing some actual research, where a teacher had inappropriately photographed Anna and a classmate claiming she had brutally assaulted him.
What works in Anna’s favor is the unmoved demeanor Strong and Farmiga depicts as he desperately attempts to reveal the actual truth. This cat and mouse saga, where the hunter unbelievably becomes the prey, is indeed a war of egos. These are two actors, each gifted with a powerful screen image, who provide interesting counterpoints to each other as they work against each other.
Yet, it is unbelievable how long it takes for Strong to even consider questioning her motives. One audience sympathizes with Anna’s struggle, it shouldn’t take this long to realize that gratuity is not the answer. For a modern-day mythological practitioner of the depths of the human mind, John is surprisingly so, when it seems that Anna might have developed a bit of affection towards him, doesn’t seem to be the case.
Even more disappointing is the fact that Spanish director Jorge Dorado did not offer any true innovation to this premise’s visual possibilities. Rather, he focused on repeating certain thematic symbols, which instead of providing clues ended up adding to the confusion. The set captures the following elements: the massive spiral staircase in Anna’s house, rainstorms, the sea, overflowing taps, and showers flooding the floors, and wards with swamped showers. The splashes of red appear as blood, lipsticks, Anna’s sketches, roses, and rugs. Plus there are the clocks, the fountains of nervous ticks and stocks, and a metronome. Yet, quick cuts, distortion of sounds and images, shadowy figures, and all that really throw nothing under your skin.
And save for the two leads, the rest of the cast, including Brian Cox, surprisingly, did not perform higher than the Lifetime Channel level. The least satisfying of everything is the lack of surprise or revelation that Dorado grants us. Without sound for the pieces of his muddled puzzle, at least, as somewhere over the rainbow.
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