Films
Draft
Infinity Pool
Brandon Cronenberg
James and Em Foster are enjoying an all-inclusive beach vacation in the fictional island of La Tolqa.
Psychological ThrillerBody HorrorCrime
Films
Draft
A Cure for Wellness
Gore Verbinski, Justin Haythe
This review is currently a draft.
A Wall Street stockbroker travels to a remote location in the Swiss Alps to retrieve his company's CEO from an idyllic but mysterious wellness center. He soon suspects that the miraculous treatments are not what they seem. His sanity is tested when he unravels the spa's terrifying secrets and finds himself diagnosed with the same curious illness that keeps all the guests there longing for a cure.
Score 7.3 / 10
Mood
Neutral
Pacing
Smooth
Aftertaste
Satisfied
Would Revisit
Maybe later
Recommendation
Yes, well worth a one-time watch
Do you know what the cure for the human condition is? Disease. Because that's the only way one could hope for a cure.
The screenplay is based on a short story co-written by Haythe and Verbinski, the film’s creators, which was itself inspired by Thomas Mann’s novel The Magic Mountain.
I first watched this film many years ago and recently decided to revisit it — the title turned out to be very memorable for me! And I have to disagree with the majority opinion here: IMDb and Kinopoisk both give it 6.4, and RottenTomatoes sits at 42%.
The cast is pretty solid: Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs, Mia Goth, Lisa Banes and Carl Lumbly. Isaacs in particular is very good at playing villains!
Yes, the film is a bit long at 2 hours 30 minutes, and some choices are questionable — the eels, the family connections — but for me these are minor details compared to what the film is actually saying.
I read it as a powerful metaphor for modern pharmaceutical companies and the systems that sell us the belief that something is wrong with us, in order to sell us a cure. Or worse — that healthy people are made sick so they can then be sold the treatment. The film also touches on the age-old human obsession with longevity and immortality, and the crimes some are willing to commit in pursuit of it.
There’s also an underlying idea that only through suffering — through illness — can a person truly develop, and that without it, neither individuals nor society will ever really grow.
Final Note
Overall, the film is better than its ratings suggest and well worth a one-time watch. I recommend it — 7.3/10.
May 30, 2026More to Explore
