Coming off box office bomb The Lone Ranger, a movie that reportedly cost Disney upwards of $150 million, it’s little wonder why director Gore Verbinski is circling back to his horror roots.
Before having a crack in the blockbuster space through Pirates of the Caribbean and later Ranger, Verbinski first broke onto the scene via an electrifying remake of The Ring, and fans of the filmmaker will be pleased to hear that his latest creative venture is very much steeped in dark, psychological drama.
Entitled A Cure for Wellness, the R-rated horror has rolled out two eerie promos to stoke excitement. The first of which is aligned as more of a viral promo, presenting a bleak perspective on modern-day life – “there is a sickness inside us, rising like the bile that leaves that bitter taste at the back of our throats” – before drawing attention to a so-called cure. It’s nihilism 101, essentially. Finally, the second snippet is pitched as a meditation ritual, offering up a haunting image of a young woman suspended in water and slowly rotating.
That’s all well and good, but what’s the story? A Cure for Wellness stars Dane DeHaan as a man who travels into the Swiss Alps to locate his missing boss after he was last seen at a European “wellness spa.” Jason Isaacs is the aristocratic director who welcomes our lead into this most eerie facility, introducing viewers to Mia Goth’s patient in the process. Bojan Bazelli (The Ring) is the director of photography behind the project and following these teasers, we can’t wait to lay eyes on some actual footage.
“We build, we buy, we consume, we wrap ourselves in the illusion of material success.” A Cure for Wellness will open on February 17, 2017.
