Wounds

WOUNDS - Annapurna + Netflix

A form of enigmatic mysticism in horror can work wonders if appropriately utilised. Does it dampen or change the impact of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead if the audience does not know why the dead rise from the grave? Does the audience need to know the people that made up the parts of James Whale's Frankenstein? Of course not. What made those two timeless pieces in the canon of horror is the stable and simplistic direction of the narrative. Wounds, on the other hand, is a ninety-seven-minute cluster of Cronenberg-esque aesthetic without a shred of plot.

Ringu meets The Fly is the most suitable description given to what Wounds wants to echo, however, at every turn, it’s difficult to truly nail what director Babak Anvari is aiming to evoke. As stated above, the body horror influenced by Cronenberg is heavy and shrewd in how it is implemented; it looks and acts the part quite well with decent iconography and flair coupled with a final scene that will horrify germaphobes for weeks to come. That being said, the film utterly drowns the audience in a constant state of enigmatic, flavourless and hollow essence without a clear and concise plot.

The visual material is one thing, but the heart and soul of the film are dearly missing. Writer and director Babak Anvari has nothing to say or dictate in his screenplay. The characters are severely underwritten and inflated with conventional and redundant arcs that inspire so little in engagement or even entertainment.

Arnie Hammer puts forward arguably the best performance one can implement in this situation, with a character so lacking in development and intrigue and absolutely no dynamics to explore. Dakota Johnson and Zazie Beetz are criminally underused in two performances that are not only redundant but bonafide pointless extensions to create weight and emotional range for Hammer's character to exercise, to dull and pointless avail no doubt. There is no spark or interest right from the get-go, characters or plot otherwise. Wounds continually feels like a chore and miserable struggle with the audience having to fight tooth and claw every chance they can to be engaged.

Wounds is released exclusively released on NETFLIX October 18, 2019.