Claire Foy is Spectacularly “Unsane”

What’s the difference between being in love, obsessive or borderline stalker?  Admittedly, I know this all too well.  A former fiance’  lost it when I broke off the engagement and began to stalk me through my parents.  The authorities were alerted and eventually my life went back to normal.  But, what is normal, once you have spent months and years looking over your shoulder, checking every closet and corner when you arrive home from anywhere or losing the ability to trust anyone anywhere?

Directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring the Emmy winning star of The Crown – Claire Foy, Unsane had me talking to the screen and jumping out of my skin all the while trying to decipher whether  or not what I was seeing was real or imagined by its lead character – Sawyer Valentini.

Sawyer is a single woman who relocates from Boston to Pennsylvania to escape a man who’s been stalking her for the last two years.  Ultimately, she finds herself committed to a mental institution that seems committed to holding her hostage until her insurance runs out.  This is when it gets interesting, as her stalker has now found her and secured employment at the institution set she is being held/

If One flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and Misery had a baby Unsane would be the delivered result.  This film is crazy great and such a huge departure for Both Soderbergh and Foy.  Foy is absolutely brilliant spouting monologues we are used to hearing from her on The Crown.  Baby, when I tell you she is shredding the screen with her portrayal of Sawyer, I do not exaggerate.  It was really breathtakingly wonderful work.

Jay Pharaoh, mostly known for his spot on impersonations at SNL plays Nate, an undercover journalists that befriends Sawyer and ultimately meets his demise in doing so.  It was nice to see this brotha’ stretch outside of his comfort zone and land quite nicely in another lane  – Bravo!

However, Joshua Leonard was perfectly cast as David Strine.  The complexity with which his character has been crafted is a sight to behold.

Infused with Hitchcock-like suspense, Unsane poses the question of how corrupt and shady the health-care system in our country has become.  In addition, you walk away wondering if Sawyer was really stalked or was the whole thing just a figment of her imagination.

Produced by Bleecker Street, Unsane hits theaters on March 23rd.