Before I begin this review, I would like to address that the trailer for this movie was a bit misleading to me. It was marketed as if it was a horror movie from the trailer but I would say that the movie's plot lean more towards the mystery and crime aspects of the story. But I would still labelled it as a horror film because it does have some pretty scary scenes, and it also have a typical horror vibe to it since the case the detective was investigating revolved around the horrific activities that were related to the satanic cult.
So let's go a bit deeper into the plot. What is the film about? The film starts with a detective investigating a man who allegedly had molested her daughter but has no recollection of doing it. The crime had been made aware by the local priest through a confession written in a letter by the man's own daughter who had been staying at the local church after she fled from the house. And so the investigation began. What at first thought to be a straight forward case turned out to be related to something more bizarre which involved the satanic cult, and it seems that the daughter will be the link that connects the dots to something more sinister.
Overall, the story is entertaining with a strong message to tell but just like how I was tricked with the trailer for this movie (thinking it would have something to do with something more evil), I feel the story also tricked the audience into believing something that it's not. Just when you thought the story is about something, it turned around and become something else entirely, which might irritate you if you're not someone like me who are willing to appreciate the story even when tricked. Without giving any spoilers, I would say that the slow build-up that the story has in the middle didn't exactly rewards me with a satisfying ending. It has a good ending, but not as satisfying as I would hope it would be.
Talking about the ending, it reminds me a bit of the ending of the film Cry_Wolf (a mediocre film but with a great ending - I love that film's ending a lot) but a less effective or less powerful version of it. But I think it does have a strong message to give about people's motivation and how things could easily be manipulated by someone for their own gain using the issue that currently plaguing the conscious mind of the public. What's scarier is the fact that the story was inspired by actual events, so to think that something like the movie had happened before and could actually happen again is terrifying.
Acting-wise, I really like Ethan Hawke performance as the detective who's investigating this mysterious case. He played the part well. Another actor who I liked is Dale Dickey who played the grandmother of Emma Watson's character. She was really good in her role, very convincing. All the other actors was fine too but I have to say that Emma Watson's performance was a bit less convincing to me, she wasn't bad at all but not as good in the role as I would hope she'd be. She did become better towards the end though when all the twists and turns are finally revealed. Maybe it has something to do with the character's portrayal as well but I'm not sure, she just seemed less natural to me in the first 2/3 of the movie.
So let me summarize this review. I think the movie's plot is tricking me into believing that it is a story about something that it's actually not but at the same time I enjoy the story and I believe it has an important message that it needed to tell. Ethan Hawke and Dale Dickey were amazing in their roles while others did okay. The story has a good ending but not satisfying enough for me. It's a slow movie and might not be a cup of tea for everyone but to me it is still a fine movie, something you could watch if you are a fan of the director's work or the casts.
I give Regression the score of 8.2 out of 10.
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