A Cure for Wellness (2016)
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A young executive sent to retrieve a CEO from a mysterious Swiss retreat finds himself trapped in a web of macabre medical experiments.
The story
Lockhart, an executive at a financial services firm in New York City, is sent by the board of directors to retrieve CEO Roland Pembroke, who had abruptly decided to stay at a "wellness center" in the Swiss Alps. At the spa, Lockhart is met with resistance by the staff and Dr. Heinreich Volmer in attempting to speak with Pembroke. Lockhart leaves, but is involved in a car crash and awakens at the center – supposedly three days later – with his leg in a plaster cast. He meets a mysterious young girl named Hannah who, among others, doses herself with a mysterious fluid from small, blue bottles.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Lockhart, an executive in New York, travels to a Swiss Alps wellness center to retrieve CEO Roland Pembroke. After a car crash, he wakes up at the facility with a cast on his leg. He meets a girl named Hannah and learns from local residents about the spa's history: it was built on a castle where a baron performed experiments to find a cure for infertility. Lockhart discovers the spa's 'transfusion wing' is a front for macabre experiments using local aquifer water, which has life-restoring properties for eels but is toxic to humans. The 'cure' is used by the staff to extend their lives. Lockhart realizes he is a prisoner and is subjected to treatments intended to break his mind. He eventually learns that the 'cure' is a process of filtering water through human bodies. He discovers that Volmer is the original baron and Hannah is his daughter, both aged slowly by the cure. After a confrontation in a burning castle, Hannah kills her father, and they escape together as the facility burns.
- First release year
- 2016
- Runtime (minutes)
- 147
- Production countries
- United States; Luxembourg
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Gore Verbinski
- Writers
- Justin Haythe · screenplay; Justin Haythe · story; Gore Verbinski · story
- Cast and characters
- Dane DeHaan · Lockhart; Jason Isaacs · Dr. Heinreich Volmer; Mia Goth · Hannah; Harry Groener; Celia Imrie; Adrian Schiller
- Genres
- psychological horror; psychological thriller; science fiction horror; science fiction thriller; supernatural horror; supernatural thriller
- Themes
- capitalism; health and wealth; father-daughter relationships
- Tone and mood
- creepy; clammy tension; supernatural
- Premise and plot tags
- Lovecraftian; medical mystery; body horror
- Source material / true-story basis
- Thomas Mann's 1924 novel The Magic Mountain
- Reception
- The film received generally mixed reviews from critics, who praised its visuals, cinematography, performances and ambition, but criticized its length, script and narrative. It was considered a box-office bomb.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 42% · scale: percentage · review count: 210; Metacritic · score: 47 · scale: 100 · review count: 40; CinemaScore · score: C+ · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film's title and concept were inspired by Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain; The film featured a marketing campaign involving fake news sites
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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