28th August, 2018.
*Spoilers*
Yep: it’s officially official.
I’ve had another day off.
As I write, I’ve some music on in the background.
Japan’s famed Tin Drum album.
Which may not be for everyone, I admit.
But frankly?
I like it.
Although I’m curious to know why a band call Japan produced tracks like Cantonese Boy or Visions of China.
Totally different country.
At any rate … another day … another dollar …
And another movie.
~≈§≈~
You’ve possibly worked out I like a film or two, haven’t you … ?
Possibly, he said!
At any rate, I like a film or two.
And occasionally?
Get recommendations.
Including from an old friend, Faye.
She’s managed another on, today.
~≈§≈~
Set in a fictional mental hospital, Patient Seven introduces us to Dr Marcus (Micheal Ironside) interviewing six patients: to hear their version of why they’ve been hospitalised.
They go from a woman claiming her mother was seeing demons … to a little girl wanting to buy a shovel, to bury her best friend … to a man hired a killer to rid the world of vampires.
What we don’t realise, until the end of the film?
Is that Dr Marcus …
Is the seventh patient of the title: hallucinating his fellow patients stories, after being institutionalised for 30, after — apparently — killing his mother.
And claiming she’d been eaten by zombies.
~≈§≈~
Now …
Faye, bless ’er, usually manages to recommend an interesting movie or two.
And, whilst Patient Seven isn’t the best of films*?
It is worth watching†: it is, after all, an entertaining piece whose central conceit — a mental health worker who turns out to be madder than his fellow patients — is entertaining.
Patient Seven is — as I think I mention in the intro — a fun watch.
But …
Patient Seven
★☆☆☆
* Frankly, James McAvoy gave a better performance in Split, than Michael Ironside in Patient Seven. Countering that? Ironside is pretty damn good as the unconventional psychiatrist he’s claiming to be.
† I’ve not seen all of his work. But I’ve seen a few Noel Clarke penned, produced/directed, written films. He doesn’t make great art. He does make bloody good, entertaining, watchable movies that are worth seeing. In that sense, Patient Seven is a Noel Clarke film. Not necessarily great art. But perfectly acceptable entertainment. And watchable entertainment at that, for all I’ve given it one star.
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