The Swerve

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James M Outstanding performance by the lead actress and sobering insight into severe mental illness, but, ultimately, I watch a movie to be entertained. This movie is not at all entertaining. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 08/26/24 Full Review Jeffrey P A strong performance from the lead keeps this afloat and carries it to a lightly twisted ending despite a slow pace and vague plot throughout. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/12/23 Full Review Adam M Mental health is a serious issue and this movies touches on the aspects of depression, isolation, feeling unseen, and being unstable. I wish they took it further, as the movie started off somewhat slow. The ending was fairly decent, up until the last scene. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/26/23 Full Review Darla P This was the most dismal movie I've ever seen. It leaves you with the most uncomfortable feeling.... Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 10/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Extremely well acted and produced, but it's nothing but pain, fear, and death. That's all. There's nothing redeeming; it's 100% darkness. I cannot bring myself to give a positive review of something like this, ever. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review ronald h The Swerve is a thoroughly unpleasant movie. It's well directed and acted, with a strong performance by Azura Skye. It's not entertaining. Rather, it's depressing and disturbing. That doesn't mean it's bad. If your criteria for a film is hyper-realism, it succeeds greatly. But if you're in the mood for mindless, light entertainment, forget this one. The Swerve is solidly in the Diary of a Mad Housewife tradition. The theme of a woman losing her mind has been explored by John Cassavetes and Woody Allen. In fact, Skye's Holly somewhat reminded me of Gena Rowlands in Allen's 1980's Another Woman. Holly is a suburban high school English teacher with two surly, spoiled teenage sons and an unsympathetic husband who manages a grocery store. She almost anorexically thin, neurotically hung up on killing a mouse in her home, and upset about a childhood experience that her weird sister keeps bringing up. She gobbles anti-depressants. To add to the misery, her husband has been fooling around with one of his employees. One of her male students is attracted to her, and she has a shocking, inappropriate moment in her minivan with him. Not a good idea. It just fuels his obsession with her, and she doesn't try to stop it. Watching her descend into madness is not a lot of fun. Some critics consider The Swerve to be about mental illness rather than female depression stemming from external forces. I think it's a bit of both. I wonder if women will respond to The Swerve differently than men. Probably. As a clueless male with a limited understanding of women's emotions and the way that those emotions overwhelm their lives, I felt squirmy and edgy throughout this film. I recognized Skye's talent and appreciated her committed performance, but overall, I was terribly uncomfortable. Of course, art doesn't have to be edifying and uplifting in order to be valid. It can be bleak, humorless, hopeless, and despairing. But as for me, if I'm feeling dark, I'd prefer to look at Munch's "The Scream" than to sit through 90 minutes of unabated misery. The final act of this film turned my stomach. It also made me lose my appetite for apple pie. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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