Jagged Mind

Sometimes a movie’s quality is dependent on what you’re comparing it to. Take Jagged Mind. The film’s focus on an abusive relationship bolstered by unnatural means puts me in mind of Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man. And if you compare Jagged Mind to that film, Jagged Mind is not a good movie. It doesn’t do any of its similar themes half as well as The Invisible Man. But, if you compare Jagged Mind to other WLW thrillers, it’s way above average just because it has a unique idea. But when it comes down to it, you have to grade on a pretty specific curve to give Jagged Mind a passing mark. Its idea is unique and interesting but the execution is lacking.

Billie is a young woman beginning a new relationship with a woman named Alex. Alex comes on initially very strong in her assertions that she and Billie should be together. But as her relationship with Alex develops, Billie starts experiencing strange dreams, nosebleeds and memory loss. Many of these episodes relate to Alex. Billie starts to suspect that whatever is going on with her mind has something to do with Alex. And Alex seems more and more eager to isolate Billie from everyone around her.

Jagged Mind tells you in its plot summary that Alex is the problem. But I do wish perhaps the movie had let this be more of a mystery in the film. Apologies to anyone reading this review who now also can’t go in cold in this aspect. Because you go in knowing Alex is the bad guy, the first half of the movie is spent waiting for Billie to come to the same conclusion as the audience. And Alex has so many red flag moments it can be frustrating when Billie doesn’t. Perhaps the film might’ve worked better if even for the audience, Alex’s reveal as the villain was a surprise. Jagged Mind is specifically about an abusive relationship. And fostering an element of trust and dependence on Alex not just for Billie but for the audience would’ve made the payoff that she’s the problem hit way harder.

The film picks up a little as it wanders towards its third act. Billie’s symptoms have hit a point of no return. She can’t trust her mind anymore and that is engaging and thrilling to watch. But even here, there’s little focus on this particularly stressful state of being before the film barrels towards its predictable climax. The only real surprise here was that the third act also reveals the “how” of Alex’s control over Billie. And spoiler alert: it’s a magic crystal. Jagged Mind was already struggling to stay in my good books but this detail sealed the film’s fate. Maybe this makes me culturally insensitive but I can’t take a magic crystal seriously. The fact that people get stabbed in the third act lost a level of drama because all of this plot relates to a goddamn magic crystal.

This is one of those films where my main positive is that there definitely is an idea here. And an original one at that, at least as far as WLW films goes. But the execution just lets that idea down. Jagged Mind isn’t nearly as thrilling as it should be. The story doesn’t live up to the premise. And it’s further let down by some technical weaknesses like uneven performances and noticeably bad ADR. I thought about giving this movie a mixed review because it is unique and again, has some real ideas. But at the end of the film, I was mostly left disappointed, especially by the film’s very last scene.

Overall rating: 4.8/10

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