Distorted is a 2018 thriller about a woman suffering from bipolar disorder who comes to suspect the proprietor of the state-of-the-art ”smart apartment” she and her husband just moved into is using the building’s residents as unwitting guinea pigs.
Here’s a movie guarantee: Anytime a young couple are given a tour of new home in a hi-rise building (or a hotel in Colorado), things are going to get bad. Here’s another: If said hi-rise touts its amazing state-of-the-art technology, it’s going to be at least half the reason why the bad things happen in the first place. These are set in stone truths that sort of give movie-goers a sense of control over their experience, like how we know all movie flashlights flicker and die out at the worst possible moment or a woman with a troubled psychological past is just fodder for more so when taking residence in a hi-rise touting it’s amazing state-of-the-art technology. Okay, so that that last one is the plot to Rob W. King‘s latest feature Distorted, a boilerplate thriller with a few good ideas, however one that never really gets the most out of them.
Lauren Curran (Christina Ricci) starts off a little unstable, having visions of shadowy intruders in her home, among other assorted oddities, clearly suffering from something traumatic. Her husband Russel (Brendan Fletcher) desperately tries to cope with her increasing paranoia but nothing seems to work, even Lauren’s steady sessions with a therapist. Feeling insecure and unsafe, the couple make a move to a new apartment building called The Pinnacle, located in a lush country setting, its proprietors extolling many modern amenities, including the latest in security and convenience technology. Naturally, things only get worse as the residents all seem to act strangely and all kinds of out of sorts with plenty of what the huh? weirdness piling up everywhere else, prompting her to call upon the mysterious Vernon Sarsfield (John Cusack) to poke around this supposed hi-rise nirvana.
The best thing going for Distorted is Ricci, sporting a cropped platinum blonde hairstyle, who lingers about in wide-eyed neurosis throughout. Poor Lauren is a mental mess, clearly in distress, hearing and seeing things that convince her that all is not as it seems. What’s different about Distorted is this appears to be the default state for the young woman, the film literally opening with her suffering from one of these disillusions and then going from there. That’s also a bit of a problem though, as we never really get a sense of stability in her, giving us a solid starting point to get connected too. She is just a manic woman in constant unrest from the very start.
King isn’t subtle, littering the movie with in-your-face imagery and sound effects that make no effort to give Lauren’s breakdown any nuance, checking off a series of obvious standbys in the genre to prop up the woman’s descent. From single word flashes on television screens to shifty shadows and blink and you’ll miss it figures seemingly watching her, all punctuated by obligatory screeches and jump scare score hits, there’s not much in the way of meaningful suspense. It’s jackhammer storytelling that grows numb fast.
Cusack eventually arrives, after Lauren must resort to the internet for help, showing up in all the expected underground hacker accoutrement, his dark hoodie and whispered exchanges offering a possible, sinister reason behind what’s happening at The Pinnacle. Too bad he’s little more than a prop.
Distorted isn’t entirely without some entertainment, with King staging a few solid moments that work, and a strong effort from Ricci, who manages to get a lot out of very little. King is spinning a few too many plates though and the film never really digs as deeply as it feels like it could into some of its ideas. A passable if unsatisfying watch.