Regression (2016)

Very best movie i ever watch

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

I grew up in a cult. The classic kind from the seventies. And then they disappeared but heavily influenced DC politics. This movie is a close representation of perhaps mass hysteria experienced on all levels of the media and is a good provocation of what it is like to be stuck in a fraudulent system.I give this film the rate of a ten for simply stunning acting, very, very subtle transition from scene to scene, great cinematography, an incredible score and for truly capturing a spirit of mystery and for allowing nonfiction to be fiction or vice versa, to being true to the spirt of a kind of collective mysteria all religious people seem to suffer from and for dealing with a forbidden topic, that is, the one devout Christians most fear. Yes, this film deals with heavy issures but because things like this have happened to others and to me, i cannot say they are not true.Thank you, Ethan, Emma and to Mr. Amenabar.

I really enjoyed the movie. I thought it was very well acted and would commend in particular the actress who portrayed the grandmother. Both Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson gave strong performances, also. As a criminal defense lawyer, I was happy to see the credibility of psycho-therapy examined; very refreshing. I think the movie calls into question much more than Satanic Ritual Abuse and would hope viewers could make the connection with many other aspects of life. Would highly recommend despite some downright gory and scary scenes.

REGRESSION tells the story of high strung detective Bruce Kenner, played by Ethan Hawke, trying to unravel the mystery behind a suspect accused of child molestation in the small rural community of Hover, MN.The accused father, John Gray, can neither admit nor deny his crime against his daughter, as he cannot fully remember the events. A psychiatrist is brought in to guide the investigation, which quickly becomes complicated and not as it first appears. Several of the characters, including the victim's estranged family members and detective Kenner, all begin experiencing nightmares, brought about by exposure to the horrific events that are described in the psychiatrist's regression therapy sessions. These events center around a sadistic satanic cult and the evil deeds to which their victims are subjected. The nightmares become so intense that is becomes difficult for the characters to separate hallucination from reality.Kudos to writer/director Alejandro Amenabar, from whose hands we can see his tightly controlled craft. He did so many things right in this movie that it more than made up for a couple of slow spots in the script. First, this was a period piece, and the bar for accuracy in period pieces has been raised over the last decade due to TV shows like Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire. Amenabar shows us his vision of 1990 with great attention to detail, including the boxy Chevrolet Caprice cop cars, the tacky furniture and cabinets in Kenner's house, and the micro-cassette recorders and other electronic devices from that era. Amenabar also chooses the side of subtlety as he frightens the audience, using a minimum of blood and gore but leaning heavily on the power of suggestion. This movie leans cerebral over slasher.In the end (here comes the spoiler) we learn that daughter Angela, played by Emma Watson, is making up the accusations against her father as a way to punish him and her family for binding her to her white trash roots with no hope of escaping to a better life. Again, the plot twist is more subtle than earth shattering, but we in the audience don't feel let down by the whole "figment of their imagination" ending present in films like FIGHT CLUB or SPHERE.Lastly, Amenabar's film leaves the audience to form its own conclusions. It doesn't take sides on the religious faith vs. academic science argument, and aptly demonstrates the fallacies of regression therapy without beating us over the head with it.

There are a lot of excellent Spanish directors; however only Almoodovar and Amenabar are very well known abroad. And sadly they made great movies long ago but their latest efforts are really badly directed and even worse scripted.After getting Tom Cruise to remade his second movie (Open your eyes) and winning an Oscar for his third (The Sea Inside), Amenabar made an over-produced, and later financial failure called AGORA.The movie blamed the rising Christian faith as the barbarians who destroyed the Alexandria library and its documents and knowledge without any historic accuracy. Some people considered the movie offensive; but it was just a poorly directed, mediocre script whose only goal seemed to be to create controversy.Regression (after an hiatus of a few years) is perhaps more of the same. It is difficult to understand if Amenabar is attacking one more time the Christian faith, psychoanalysis or people stupidity. *** SPOILER FOLLOWS **** Based on real events (which does not necessary means what the movie tells is completely true) it tells the story of a police detective that investigating a possible child molesting case; turn things in a satanic cult stuff, creating a media big mess; to find out later that everything was product of a quite hysterical young women.***END OF SPOILER *****Nothing in the move makes a lot of sense; people believe things without any real proof; everybody (including the "smart" city detective) becomes obsessed almost immediately; but it happens so fast and without any logical reason that is impossible to believeEthan Hawk makes a big effort to with his character (frankly, never trust his character with any investigation) and Emma Watson surprises with her dual personality character. The rest of the cast does whatever they can; but no magic can be done with an script without any proper progression that keeps asking to accept the absurd of a situation.In brief; avoid it !!!