Welcome to Knockout Horror. We have been checking out some pretty bad movies, lately. With that in mind, I figured we should probably head back into the earlier months of the year in the search of something watchable. In this case, that movie is horror, thriller, Double Blind.
This movie comes from Ireland and follows the story of Claire (Millie Brady). In desperate need of money, Claire joins a medical testing facility’s latest trial. It’s not just Claire’s annoying fellow trial participants that she will have to worry about, though. After the mysterious drug produces horrifying side effects that mean if you fall asleep, you will die.
Kinda Familiar
Double Blind immediately reminded me of a lesser known, early 2010’s, British horror called The Facility. In fact, it was so similar that the two movies could share one synopsis. The idea is pretty simple, a group of people in need of money take part in a medical trial that goes horribly wrong. The only major way that Double Blind differs is in having a more character focused approach to its story and by having more interesting consequence to taking the medication.
The side effects of the pill mean that you can’t sleep or you will die.. Pretty fascinating stuff and writer Darach McGarrigle manages to get a decent amount of milage out of the idea. Characters, upon realising their potential fate, set about keeping themselves awake however they can. Some exercise, some pace about, some simply try and stay calm. It isn’t long before things start to fall apart, tempers fray and relationships sour. Leading to the group having to worry about much more than simply feeling tired.
Works Pretty Well
It’s a pretty nice concept and it works fairly well. There’s a decent amount of tension and the story does enough to stay engaging. This is a group of distinctly different personalities and that makes for a real melting plot of tension as things become more intense. We are, predominantly, focused on protagonist Claire and, while she is seriously unlikable earlier on, she warms up eventually and becomes someone you genuinely root for.
Scares come in the form of the character’s quickly declining mental states and the paranoia that leads to. You never quite know what will happen next and director Ian Hunt-Duffy manages to keep you guessing as to whether what the characters are experiencing is real or not. The sleepless nature of the characters is related very effectively and you really feel for their plight.
Doesn’t Live Up To Potential
With that being said, it’s hard not to think that Double Blind fails to live up to some of its earlier potential. The intrigue and tension present in the first half fizzles out, after awhile. With the movie descending into a typical human drama centred around paranoia and mistrust. There was a lot of opportunities to lean into the sleeplessness. We could have gone heavy into the hallucination and delirium aspect but that really doesn’t happen. There’s a few scenes that offer some hope but they never amount to much.
Double Blind is very content to exist as a rather middle of the road thriller. Finding itself in something of a predictable loop and all too happy to sacrifice scares and intrigue to tread the all too familiar path of horror trope. It’s a bit of a shame. Despite the accomplished camera work that features some very nice shots, particularly during some of the more trippy scenes. The sterile, and repetitive, environment gets pretty boring, pretty quickly. Leading to some visual fatigue here and there.
Acting is fine. The characters aren’t particularly likable but Millie Brady does a very nice job. Feeling like a real person rather than simply a character and adding tons to the movie. I enjoyed seeing Abby Fitz again; she had a supporting role in average horror The Cellar and does a good job here. I was very happy to see Pollyanna McIntosh still appearing in horror movies. She is seriously underrated and always fantastic.
Should You Watch Double Blind?
If you are looking for a fairly interesting thriller with a pretty unique hook then you should probably watch Double Blind. It doesn’t live up to its potential and it treads a very familiar path but it does enough to stay interesting. The element of paranoid, delusional, sleepless individuals keeps things tense and there is a pretty decent story at its heart. It just feels very familiar and far too heavy on the tropes to seriously recommend.
