THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
We know people develop road rage but we're never sure how far they can go, because it depends on how bad the day started and went.
PLOT
Unhinged follows Rachel Flynn, a divorced woman taking care of her son Kyle and living with her young brother Fred (Austin P. McKenzie), along with his girlfriend Mary (Juliene Joyer). One day, she drives her son to school during rush hour traffic. As she is running late to work, she drives around one in front of her for not taking the green light. The driver is Tom Cooper, credited as The Man, who requests an apology from her for her decision, after he quickly apologizes in return of not taking the light. She refuses to apologize, believing she was not in the wrong. Little does she know what he is capable of because the night prior, he just killed his ex wife and her new lover, along with burning their house down and getting away with it. Because of this, he momentarily chases her to prove a point. Rachel does safely get Kyle to school but encounters Tom again at a gas station. Unbeknownst to her, he switches his phone with hers. When another customer tells him to leave her alone, he runs him over and continues chasing her. She is able to get away from him again for the moment, but discovers his phone instead of hers. He tracks down her divorce lawyer Andy (Jimmi Simpson) at a diner and calls her with Andy's phone. She does try to warn him how dangerous he is and when attempting to apologize, Tom knows she doesn't mean it. He then decides to publicly kill Andy. With access of her phone, he empties her account and demands her to pick up her son. He then infiltrates her home, killing Mary and holding Fred hostage. When he calls Rachel again, he has Fred read a false letter of hatred to her. Just as that happens, an officer enters the house and tries to stop the man. Tom escapes once he lights Fred on fire but the officer is able to shoot him on the shoulder. As Rachel continues driving, Kyle finds her tablet and uses the 'Find my Phone 'app, only to find him next to them, with a minivan he stole from a neighbor. They avoid him once again when he rams into a cop car, trying to get to her. They go to her mother's house and Kyle hides in the attic. Rachel is able to sneak up on Tom by running into him. Both are concussed but the man gets up first. He enters the house to get to Kyle but surprisingly, Rachel makes it to the attic first. He finds them both and drags the mother out of the attic. He tries to choke the boy with a cord, but the mother ends the conflict by stabbing his left eye with a pair of scissors. She would then kick it into his socket which finally kills him. The cops show up to check on them, also telling them that Fred survived the burns. When they are free to go, they head to the hospital to see him. However, the film ends with them being cut off by another driver but Rachel chooses to not honk after what she and her son had experienced.
THOUGHTS
You know I wasn’t sure if I wanted to see this film because it sounded too simple to take serious. But then I remember that sometimes the most simple stories can be the most entertaining. And I got just that with this movie. Director Derrick Borte succeeds in making a twist of a real life scenario more terrifying than viewers would think. With that in mind, he is able depict the stressful nature of a modern life, which is the most investing element because we know it's true. Watching this at home, I was indeed biting my nails throughout, proving this to be as suspenseful as it was hyped up to be. The main reason why this message is able to get viewers' attention is through the performance of Russell Crowe. Throughout, he is the most unstable character you have ever seen because he feels invisible and since he also feels that the world is such a broken place, he doesn't care how he wants to be seen. He is credited as The Man because the movie's tagline does not exaggerate how 'he can happen to you'. He can be any person willing to break so easily and that makes Crowe's performance all the more terrifying. Based on this character's actions, I think the point being made is how people can only do so much to control how the world treats them, they still need to be responsible for their actions. Enter Caren Pistorious who plays Rachel. She is great at presenting her as someone that is brave, willing to defend herself and her family but she's someone who learns the hard way on how a small act of kindness can go a long way. The second that the man stared her down, you knew she was screwed. Her not honking at the other driver represents how you must always show empathy to others and avoid conflict whenever possible. I give this movie a lot of credit but even after enjoying such a unique film, there were still stuff that bothered me throughout. First off, I know Rachel wouldn't expect Tom to find her but she should've not left her phone in the car. If she didn't do that, I don't think it would be as worse as it got. Even though using her phone is another clever way to torment her, how did he get into her accounts? Wouldn't that stuff need passwords? If there weren't any than that was lazy of her. Also why did Tom leave the iPad behind? If he was gonna swap phones, he should've taken that too in order to prevent a chance of being found. And how'd he get into Rachel's house so quietly? For a man his size, I don't think that would be the case. I also think he should've fell after getting shot twice by the cop. I get it would be adrenaline that gave him the energy but he's not invincible. Which is the same thing I gotta say near the climax because I have a hard time believing he would get out of the car due to likely having a concussion from the crash. The same goes to Rachel because combining her crash and a punch from the man, it's hard to believe she would get to her son before he would. Another thing that bothered me during the climax is how Tom wasn't even trying to change his voice when attempting to trick Kyle from a distance he was a cop. The fact that the kid didn't even move proved that he sucked at impersonations. I know Rachel was trying her best to keep her son safe and succeeded in the long run but if she wanted him unharmed, they should've went to the police after what happened to Fred. Maybe Tom would go after her mother but from that alone, the cops would know where he'd go next and he would've been stopped right then and there. And lastly, I give the ending credit for proving another point but I don't like that Rachel was driving. She and her son took a beating from a strong guy and are likely concussed. They should've been escorted by the cops to the hospital. If you ignore all of these flaws, I think you'll still be in for a ride. In short, Unhinged is an action packed thriller that is smarter than you think and if you like those kind of movies, this is the one for you.
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