After a long wait, and as America slowly finds its place in a changed world, theaters reopen their doors to cinema lovers. With many health precautions in place, projectors were fired up to show movies finished months ago waiting for an audience. Unhinged was a movie ready for a viewing on opening day. Unhinged is a cocktail of poor mental health and a society on edge, which in 2020 is easy for an audience to relate with. While the subject matter may be relatable, Unhinged does very little to engage an eager audience.

Russell Crowe (The Man) plays a man that has fallen completely over the edge and seeks to take his frustrations out on a broken society. A Crowe that has physically strayed from his days in the Colosseum, Russell attempts to play a character that could be anyone you pass during your daily routine. Caren Pistorius (Rachel) plays a newly divorced mom that is trying to find her footing in her new life and crosses paths with a deranged Crowe. Pistorius does a decent job of playing Crowe’s victim, but a poor job of drawing any major concern from the audience. With a smaller cast, there a few supporting actors worth mentioning which also reflects in the final quality of Unhinged.

Unhinged as a plot is completely plausible, but fails to get its audience to care. The antagonist feels completely manufactured with no depth, while the victim is a flawed character that garners very little sympathy. Surely this was intentional yet does nothing for the movie as a whole. A pointless ride with a few stunts spread out for reactions, Unhinged attempts to be a warning of the fallout from a fractured society. Instead it comes off more as a warning from your conspiracy theorist Facebook friend. Unhinged intentionally distances the audience from its villian in an attempt to show he could be anyone, but that distance also leaves audiences finding it hard to care about the films progression. In a time where we are limiting our exposure to the world, Unhinged is not the film that makes you feel confident in your choice to break your bubble despite the safety precautions the theaters have strictly followed. With the dawn of video on demand, Unhinged makes you ponder as to what made this studio feel that holding this film for a theatrical release was a must. Unhinged played its best strategy by being the first major release upon reopening. Audiences were ready to watch paint dry as long as it was on a large screen with fresh popcorn. Unhinged filled that void, and that’s the best that can be said.