It's not as bad as most reviews said, it's not great either, but it's weird, absurd in a good way, creepy at times. Overall good attempt by Gore Verbinski, similar to Shutter Island but not that great. Shutter Island was brilliant, but this one lacks the touch of the great Scorsese.

The ending is a bit of a letdown. Dane Dehaan, Jason Isaacs & Mia Goth are excellent. The story had too many directions, sometimes looses its way, but the eerie atmosphere keeps you interested. Some shocking scenes here & there adds to the surprise factor.

I have written this review after a long time because so many people saying terrible things about this movie. But it's definitely worth watching. The ending could have been better, the film could have been shorter, but if you like watching eerie suspense movies you wouldn't regret watching a cure for wellness.

"A Cure for Wellness" is the best fantasy film since "Pan's Labyrinth". Knowing nothing about it as I settled in to watch it, I found myself trying to guess who had directed it. Was it dark fantasy maestro Guillermo Del Toro's latest, or maybe Gilliam had snuck it out without much fanfare?

Neither. It's the work of one Gore Verbinski, a filmmaker I admit I had written off as a Hollywood hack. He made the disastrous "Lone Ranger" a few years ago, and those "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies that could have been done by anyone.

Verbinski has found his voice, and is clearly a brilliant cinematic stylist. I am going to eagerly anticipate his next film.

Unless Johnny Depp is involved.

This popped up on a streaming service and I hesitated for about a week if I should watch it or not. The score looked ok, but had not heard anything about it (often actually a good thing) and I haven't quite made up my mind about Gore Verbinski yet. I've basically only liked Ring by him so far, and now this. So glad I decided to watch it as it was amazing, easily one of the best movies I've seen in a while.

The story is about a young executive Lockhart (Dane DeHaan) who is sent to alps to get a company board member back to work from a mysterious spa to sign some papers. That's all there is to know and it really doesn't even matter. What matters is what happens when Lockhart gets to the spa, which resembles a mental institution in quite a few ways. And things really go weird quite fast and the task isn't quite as easy.

First off, the cinematography is amazing. Every single image is a work of art, the movie is an absolute joy to look at. The sets are amazing also, it looks like nothing was spared in making this movie look as good as possible The music also is great and these would already be enough to make this movie enjoyable. But the story is also engaging. It's weird, but at the same time it's strangely normal in a block buster way. It doesn't try to be too smart, but it doesn't let the viewer go easy either.

I've seen a good share of movies and series where the lead starts to question his own sanity or nobody seems to believe him. Those can quickly get annoying, but in this case the subject is handled perfectly. Lockhart isn't really questioned or locked up, everything is voluntary, he goes to town for a beer, calls back to the states, talks to cops and a doctor (or a vet actually..), but still he seems to be stuck at the spa. You have a sensation of freedom, yet not. Very nicely done.

How the story unfolds in the end is a bit "strange" and it's definitely a fantasy movie first. Horror/thriller second, drama third. I suspect that this is why it didn't really make it in the box office, it's a bit of a cross genre movie and not very easily digestable unless you check out your reality filter before entering. The other reason is that there are no a-list big names. Had the lead been played by an a-list actor it might be a whole another story. All the acting is top notch tho, especially DeHaan and I actually thought Jason Isaacs' spa director was portrayed by a german actor.

I fully recommend this for those who want a proper cinema experience, but aren't afraid of a bit of a "different movie" with no big names, but instead get a masterfully crafted fantasy thriller, with a dash oh horror thrown in.