Purification (D+)

"Unclean souls roam the Earth!"

NetFlix must hate me. It continues to suggest movies that I might like based on my prior choices in cinematic genius. The obvious problem is that I watch so many bad movies, it obviously thinks I enjoy them now. My philosophy is that there are "diamonds in the rough," so to speak, seeded among all the crummy films that find their way into my queue. It's proven correct before, but it's really about stamina. I mean, how many can I withstand before I throw in the towel?

Purification was one of the movies NetFlix suggested I check out. The premise sounded interesting, and I find myself enjoying indie films more and more, so I figured I'd give it the time of day. I nearly turned it off about fifteen minutes in, but I decided to stick it out for the long haul.

Joseph Ciminera plays Bret Fitzpatrick, a well-to-do real estate investor who is more concerned with his bottom line than the well-being of others. In short, he's a complete douche. This is established early on when he delivers an eviction notice to a woman and her special needs child in an apartment building he owns. Afterwards, he discovers his car has been towed, and he attempts to cross town on foot instead. Along the way, he narrowly avoids being hit by a car, after which things turn weird.

Bret continues to walk through the city and encounters a number of strange people. One of these people is a mysterious little girl, and he attempts to follow her. Along the way, he meets other folks, and in instances where he makes physical contact with them he is subjected to visions of the horrible things they've done. These scenes segue into nightmare sequences, which he awakens from.

"Either you pay the rent, or you watch my movie. Your choice."

Bret attempts to contact his psychiatrist, but learns that he is out of town. The man who answers the phone, Dr. Michaels (James Terriaca), says that he's covering the psychiatrist's patients while he's out of town. It is eventually revealed that Bret has been on medication for some time due to the fact that he used to see strange things when he was growing up. His condition apparently included nightmares, and he requests a refill of his prescriptions from Michaels rather than coming in for an appointment. Unfortunately, the dreams and hallucinations continue to get worse, and he transitions from scene to scene seemingly at random, always walking and always seeing strange people doing strange things.

As far as character pieces go, Purification isn't awful. The quality of the acting varies wildly, often feeling forced and artificial, and Ciminera is arguably the best of the lot. Given his prominence in the credits as actor, director, writer, producer, and casting director, he obviously had a lot on his plate. It's an indie film, though, so it's not unusual for the people making such films to perform multiple roles, both on and off screen. It's my personal opinion that such arrangements aren't ideal, but I also understand it's not always avoidable given budget constraints.

Another point on the acting--according to a couple of things I've read online, the movie had no script. Everyone was given their lines the day their scene was filmed, meaning that nearly every line was ad-libbed. Whether you think this adds to or detracts from the film is up to you. My thought is that if the actors had been better, there would have been less risk in such an approach. In my experience, improvisation is a skill unto itself, and not everyone has the knack for it.

The filming and cinematography are a bit rough around the edges, and the movie feels somewhat amateurish. Once again, it's an indie film, so this can be excused. One thing I found odd was that license plates and street signs are occasionally blurred out. I don't think I've ever seen this sort of thing done in a movie before, not even those with low budgets. I found it distracting, and noticing that sort of thing would immediately pull me out of the moment just when I might have been getting absorbed.

Would I rather die than watch this movie again? Uh...

What about scares? Well... there aren't many, if any, in Purification. There are some parts which might have been creepy, but they don't really cause much of an emotional reaction. Towards the end of the film, some of the things going on in the background come off as creepy, but it's not enough. Once you know what's going on (which, for me, was pretty early), there's really no shock factor remaining.

My issues with the film are mostly with the story and how it's conveyed. Purification started with some potential, but it ultimately ended up being a poor man's Jacob's Ladder. Is it the worst movie I've ever seen? Not on your life. That said, it's got a few drawbacks, and observant viewers will be able to spot the twist right away. Your mileage may vary, of course.

After viewing the movie, I checked it out on IMDB. Four of the six written reviews on the movie's IMDB page (each of which awards Purification a 10/10 rating) read like they were put there by people who were involved with the project--maybe just one person, as the writing of the reviews is similar enough that I wouldn't doubt that one person did them all. Whatever the case, this is definitely not a perfect film. Watch Jacob's Ladder, instead.