Sun Choke is a 2016 thriller about a women trying to recover from a traumatic mental incident struggling to cope under an unusual therapeutic treatment.
Today’s Netflix Pick is a real creepy mind bender that is sure to have you locking the doors. Starring Sarah Hagan and Sara Malakul Lane, it’s an unusual little thriller with a couple of fearless performances and a truly disturbing twist. It’s Sun Choke and it’s what you’re watching tonight. Here’s why.
THE STORY: Directed by Ben Cresciman, it follows Janie (Hagan), a young woman who has spent much her young life in therapy, coping with a number of psychological issues that have stunted her emotionally as well as socially. She’s being treated by her lifelong holistic health caretaker and nanny Irma (Barbara Crampton), and when Janie does shows signs of balance, Irma allows Janie, to leave their isolated home in the Hollywood Hills for a short time in order to get more comfortable with life on her own. And that when she he sees a young woman (Lane) driving in the opposite direction and is somehow struck by her appearance, becoming obsessed until it gets way, way out of hand.
WHY YOU NEED TO WATCH: An experimental film, Sun Choke is a quiet and chilling thriller that centers on Hagan, who is nothing short of astonishing, delivering a deliciously off-kilter performance. Trying to piece together why she acts as she does and keeping up with the madness make for a challenging watch as Janie slips further down the rabbit hole. We constantly ask ourselves if she is the victim or the monster, especially in the latter moments when she brings her obsession home. Admittedly not for everyone, it’s still well worth sitting through, simply for Cresciman’s commitment and unique take on power and betrayal.