Restraint (2017) Movie Review
Written By: FR
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Adam Cushman
Writer: Adam Cushman
Producers: Jake Borowski, Adam Cushman, C.V. Herst, Julia Taft, et. al.
Date Released: October 8, 2017
Cast:
Dana Ashbrook as Jeff Burroughs
Isabella Celaya as Madison Burroughs
Shelby Lee Chenard as Stacy Peterson
Caitlyn Folley as Angela Burroughs
John Hensley as Rob
Rating = 2/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
The film opens with Angela (Caitlyn Folley) barely out of school, attempts to whitewash her troubles by falling in love with wealthy, older man Jeff (Dana Ashbrook). The pair rushes into marriage and Angela quickly moves into his massive, gaudy home and assumes the role of stepmother to his nine-year-old daughter Maddie (Isabella Celaya). But the past is just waiting to haunt her. To make matters worse, as Angela struggles to adjusts, Jeff displays his true colors: he is disrespectful of her wishes, insensitive, and, above all else, controlling. As it becomes clear to everyone but her husband that her mental state is unraveling, she develops symptoms that include blackouts and sleepwalking. Soon, a major life change will threaten to toss Angela over the edge of sanity without hope of return.
Gore Factor
This is no slasher movie so no gore to expect. The film will strip the emotions off you and creates an ominous and haunting setting. The gore is towards the ending when she stabbed her husband to death which is expected since she has been deep into her mental illness.
The Grave Review
Restraint is a rare film that captures drama and horror together. It is a well-done psychological thriller with emphasis on the dynamics of classic relationship and the absence of properly treating mental illness as it manifests itself.
Unfortunately, there is a very unclear background of the main character. It was mentioned her going off some basic SSRI (anti-depressants) medication nothing that would be prescribed for someone completely off the rails. The premise of a wealthy older man marrying a younger woman to care for the kid and be a companion after his wife is but a common theme. Angela is an extreme rendering of a wife buried beneath mental illness and the psychological labor of her relationship. She’s definitely breaking under the strain of a previous, life-long mental health issue coupled with major life changes. While it would be hard to fully blame her husband for her devolving condition, certainly his loving attention might have turned this story on its head. Instead, Angela breaks and she breaks hard.
Jeff is subtle in his loathe-inducing actions: he is disrespectful of his wife’s privacy and body, and completely lacking in empathy; a man who considers himself too busy to allot time for proper communication with his family. His idea of sex is thrusting away while Angela looks bored, or worse, pained. Until a precipice is reached, he is controlling but not wholly abusive; his greatest sin is willful neglect of his young wife. This subtlety is important to the role, and Ashbrook toes the line beautifully. He is convincing as a well-to-do businessman with casual disregard for his wife and daughter. Ashbrook’s careful depiction of the role is likely to polarize viewers, as he is neither a clear-cut villain or a helpless victim.
Restraint authors a story that is carefully crafted filmed and depicted with a lovely attention to detail, but a story that will leave viewers emotionally raw. In this manner, the film is a bridge between classic concepts in literature and modern-day horrors, one that proves that some themes are truly timeless.
There were elements to the film that were rather interesting, just a shame that the script and storyline proved to be so slow paced, because that really deflated the rest of the movie, as it suffered from a stunted and hindered progression.
Because of the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Restraint (2017) two graves out of five graves.
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You may also like our review of the film, Woman in Black.
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