Jeremy A
Amazing little death loop movie. Has some mindwork to it. but not much. 4/5*
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
04/01/25
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J T
Not sure why low budget horror and supernatural thrillers don’t get more respect. Critics seemed underwhelmed but I truly enjoyed the movie. The banality and lack of reason that is hell is given an interesting treatment in Cruel & Unusual, well worth your time and really good screenplay.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
03/18/25
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Orlando C
Such a tiny movie, yet so impactful. I love when I find one of this hidden and forgotten films sitting around just waiting to be discovered. After seeing a recent string of horrible and forgettable films, this one provided a well needed pallette cleanser. The movie takes a minute to get going, but once it does, it leads you into an intriguing maze of discovery as the story unfolds. It's very well paced and delivered carefully, unraveling just a little bit at a time. You have an idea where it might be going, but it keeps its sense of mystery close to the vest until the very end. Thoroughly enjoyed this one. It's a shame this director didn't make any more movies. There's a real talent here that I wish would've produced more fruit.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/22/25
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Art W
I started watching this without knowing anything about it.. and I love when i happen upon something and it turns out to be awesome. The first 10 or 15 minutes go slow and you don't really get into the story for the first 20 but then it grabs you and becomes this unpredictable and crazy film about accepting blame and redemption. I enjoyed this movie a lot.. it was a unique story, well written and very well acted. Definitely a dark and weird movie about life, death, sin and a type of hell ... Thumbs up for sure. If you have some time, watch it. I saw it on prime...
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/27/25
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Audience Member
This is one of those weird movies that you add to your queue and possibly never watch because you forget about it. I watched this and was really moved by the story and enjoyed every weird bit of it. It's probably not perfect, but if stories about the afterlife or about time-loops interest you, this might be right up your alley
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/26/23
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jesse o
This kinda feels like a Twilight Zone episode mixed in with some Groundhog Day but, you know what, it's obviously not a perfect film, but I liked this movie. Basically, Edgar accidentally murdered his wife, shortly before dying himself, he finds himself in this institution where he is forced to relive his wife's murder for eternity until he can come to terms with what he did and learn to live with it. Naturally, at first, Edgar wonders why he's in there as his wife's death was an accident and it was a situation where his wife poisoned him in the first place, which is what killed Edgar. So, really, the film is all about Edgar trying to put the pieces of what happened together, so he can achieve clarity, closure and maybe even escape from this hell that he finds himself in. While I liked this movie, I will admit that it doesn't really offer anything that you have not seen before. The film is put together from other works of art, both intentional and unintentional, and there's nothing wrong with that as long as they tell a story that's worth telling. And I felt that this was a story worth telling. Because there's a certain believability to seeing all the different angles of the same story and seeing how Edgar's actions throughout the day, really, led to his wife wanting to kill him. It wasn't something that was out of the blue, it was just something that had been building up. And it's believable in the sense that, realistically speaking, most people don't take the blame for what happens to them. And I don't mean victim-shaming in cases of murders or rapes, which is a reprehensible act. I just mean, I do, or say, X which leads to Y, but I only see my side of the story and not necessarily how my actions and words can affect others, whether positive or negative. And that's something that I can believe in. So I find it's a story worth telling because of that, because it does show a certain side of us that most would like to ignore. Again, the film has its flaws, like it's probably not as emotionally resonant as it probably wanted to be, but there's something to be said about doing something selfless and not necessarily because you want your own 'salvation'. At the end, Edgar's actions didn't only help his own family, it helped someone else's. I will admit, however, that this is a little forceful. Again, it tries to go for the emotion, but it never really clicked on a deeper level for me. It has some good ideas it wants to get across, but it didn't really work at establishing deeper connections between the families that Edgar's selfless action helped, even though it was supposed to. I will say, however, that the film benefits from some strong performances. I don't think I've seen David Richmond-Peck before, but I thought he was quite good in his role. The rest of the cast is quite good as well, so no complaints on that front. The film, obviously being low-budget, doesn't have the best cinematography on earth, but it wasn't really a bother. The film is about characters and not necessarily the details of how or why they're stuck in this hell, reliving their horrible actions every day. So I liked that. I don't really have much else to say however, I liked this movie. It's not perfect and it was threatening to become too confusing in its climax, but this is a perfectly solid low-budget film. Good performances and decent concept help carry this.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
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