Disquiet – Movie Review (1/5)

DISQUIET is a new horror movie with supernatural elements. It stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers in what can’t be called his finest hour. If you can appreciate the (unintended) camp elements, you might like it. It didn’t do much for me. Read our full Disquiet movie review here!

DISQUIET is a new supernatural horror movie. It feels eerily familiar and many horror fans will probably guess most (if not all) of the twists and turns of the story. There really isn’t much new in this. Well, except for the fact that it has quite a few familiar faces, which means you’ll probably expect more than this can deliver.

For me, this was not a good experience. At all. As a horror movie, it is utterly predictable, with one actor, in particular, being off his game, and even quite boring. In fact, it manages to feel long despite a runtime of just 1 hour and 25 minutes. That’s almost impressive!

Continue reading our Disquiet movie review below. Find it in Select Theatres, On Digital, and On Demand from February 10, 2023.

No surprises whatsoever

If you can just sit back and watch Disquiet as a camp and kitsch experience, then I suppose it could be quite entertaining. However, keep in mind that the B horror – actually, C horror – feel doesn’t seem one bit intended. It just comes across as a somewhat sad production.

Anyone who’s read a few reviews here at Heaven of Horror will know that we try to find the silver lining in anything. I don’t want to speak badly of something that someone has been passionate about. In the case of this film, however, I cannot see any passion or love for the genre. Or even this particular story.

Sure, the actual plot isn’t great, but what makes it work so badly is that it plays out like a video game almost. So boringly predictable. And with heavy religious under (or rather over) tones to boot. Another thing that did not work for me in the setting otherwise used for Disquiet.

Surely Jonathan Rhys Meyers can do better!

As already mentioned, Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars in Disquiet. A performance that certainly cannot be called his finest hour. Whether it’s the macho toughness or the smartass one-liners that irritate me the most is a toss-up. The constant reminding any woman that he’s married as if he’s this super hunk that everyone lusts after.

Nothing about his behavior in Disquiet makes much sense. And the ending?! Oh Lord, help me, this was perhaps the most cringey moment I’ve witnessed in a long time. Why a movie like this is getting theatrical release while other really solid movies don’t, is a complete mystery to me.

And let me be clear when I say that Jonathan Rhys Meyers can “do better”. I don’t mean that the Disquiet movie is beneath him. I mean to say that he can deliver a better performance which surely would have helped the movie as a whole. He could be better.

In fairly recent movies such as The 12th Man, Black Butterfly, or Awake, he delivers much stronger performances.

We also have Elyse Levesque (Ready or Not), Rachelle Goulding, Garry Chalk (Day of the Dead), Trezzo Mahoro, and Lochlyn Munro (Initiation) in key supporting roles. The two latter are in an important side story that feels way too forced – which is symptomatic of the entire film.

You can find Disquiet in theaters or On Demand

Michael Winnick is the writer and director of Disquiet, and he does tend to both write and direct all his movies. However, the result is usually much stronger than what I experienced here. He previously wrote and directed Malicious (2018) which worked much better.

Honestly, by comparison to Jonathan Rhys Meyers, everyone else in this movie is acting circles around him. This is the worst I’ve ever watched him, and I’ve watched many of his production over the past several decades, so I know he can do and be better.

Fortunately, he has plenty of movies coming out, so hopefully, they can redeem him. The same goes for the writer-director of Disquiet, Michael Winnick, who can certainly do much better as well.

Disquiet is in Select Theatres, On Digital, and On Demand from February 10, 2023.

Details

Director: Michael Winnick
Writer: Michael Winnick
Cast: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Rachelle Goulding, Elyse Levesque, Lochlyn Munro, Garry Chalk, Trezzo Mahoro, Anita Brown, Bradley Stryker