What’s up, I’m dos Santos, and this is Ulven Reviews: movies and series from all over the world and all eras. Today let’s talk about Fear Therapy (original title Terapia do Medo. I guess an alternative title is Insensate, at least that’s how it was listed on Netflix when I watched it. I’ll put a photo here to show it), a Brazilian horror movie released in 2021 and directed by Roberto Moreira.
Clara (played by Cleo) suffers a motorcycle accident, and since then, becomes catatonic.
Her twin sister, Fernanda, contacts a hypnotist doctor, Bruno (played by Sergio Guizé), who thinks he can treat Clara with methods created by his late father. However, this unorthodox and mysterious treatment will open unimaginable doors
Fear therapy. After three Fear Street reviews, I’ll have to be careful to not mix the two.
So, Fear Therapy is marketed as horror. However, watching it, it’s not horror at all. It’s much more of a Mystery Thriller. So, if you want to be scared, it’s not a movie for you. I mean, there’s at least one jump-scare, really well done, but that’s all I remember.
It’s often a mistake to advertise a movie as horror when you actually have a very suspenseful, slow-paced, mystery, because most people when looking for horror, want a scary movie. And that’s not the case here.
These expectations might hurt the reception of the movie. And although I would love to think that movies are only art and propaganda, it is not! It’s also a business.
So, frustrated expectations might hurt the business side of your job. And also, maybe the reason why the movie has such a low rating on IMDb.
All that being said, I enjoyed the movie.
The film does well as a supernatural mystery. The story is intriguing since the very first scene, and for the whole duration of the movie, we want to know what actually happened, and what is the full story behind all we are watching.
However, with such a short length, the movie left a lot of unexplored details that could help the narrative, making the story richer, and more interesting.
For example, the treatments led by Bruno’s father could be more explored (Bruno’s father is Afonso, played by Kiko Bertholini). Instead, they only show one tape as exposition.
Another thing that is lacking, is some humor. The movie is way too serious. We could use some sporadic laughs, here and there. I mean, look at the director, who’s also one of the writers. He seems like a fun enough guy. I think he could come up with something funny to put in the movie. Anyway…
There’s not much to talk about the characters, because they lack personality. The most remarkable thing about them is the connection between the twin sisters.
However, Bruno lacks passion. We get to know his story, but we don’t get to know his personality, what drives him, we don’t see the fire in his eyes. He lacks motivation, it seems like he’s just reacting to things. For example, his mother says Clara will be the perfect patient for his experiments, to continue his father’s work, he’s just like “okay”.
By the way, his mother Ingrid is played by Andressa Cabral, she is a compelling character. She was very ambiguous, I never knew if she was good or she was up to something.
I have never seen this actress before, however, I think she did a good job. Her role is not major, and she has a concise manner, but in her few moments she did okay.
Cleo’s the one who gives the best performance, she kinda has three roles, however, the two sisters don’t have enough differences to make it noticeable in her performance. But with the addition of a third character that we really see the nuances of her acting. So, she was already really solid as the twin sisters, but the third one highlight the performance even more.
Now, for the negative side, Sergio Guizé is not really good. Here, at least.
I know his work, so I know he is a really good actor, but in this role, it didn’t work so well. It has everything to do with the lack of passion I mentioned about the character, but also the way he speaks is way too formal, it’s very strange. He sounds way too much as something rehearsed.
I just really hope that I can bring more works from him, in something he shows how really good he is.
The cinematography is one of the high points of the movie.
Helped, of course, by the beautiful location in which most of the movie is set in. We have a bunch of gorgeous shots, and, something that lacked in the last movie we reviewed, London Fields: the amazing use of lights and shadows, the contrast. It really set the tone for the movie.
To finish it off, the color palette is impeccable, and the camera work is really compelling.
The score is also among my favorite aspects of this movie. It really reminds me of Hitchcock movies. It’s really noticeable, it’s strong and dramatic. It has a suspenseful aura to it, going really well with the mood of the film.
It’s rare to see this kind of score nowadays. I love it, I missed it, and I think we should have more like this in the future.
Fear Therapy is decent, average, and flawed, but it has a lot of things to be enjoyed. I think it’s really worth the watch, and I’ll give Fear Therapy 7 Moons.
That’s it for now. Once again, I encourage you to like, subscribe, comment, and share it with friends, acquaintances, and enemies. Some suggested videos will appear on the screen in a bit, you might give those ones some attention to, if you like.
Thanks for watching see you in the next video.
Crítica dos Ratos 