Synopsis
Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner investigates the case of young Angela, who accuses her father, John Gray, of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery.
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Cast
- Ethan HawkeBruce Kenner
- Emma WatsonAngela Gray
- David ThewlisProfessor Kenneth Raines
- Lothaire BluteauReverend Beaumont
- Dale DickeyRose Gray
- David DencikJohn Gray
- Devon BostickRoy Gray
- Aaron AshmoreGeorge Nesbitt
- Peter MacNeillPolice Chief Cleveland
- Adam ButcherBrody
Recommendations
- 70
The Hollywood Reporter
This carefully-crafted tale of collective psychosis, satanic ritual abuse and pseudo-science, starring Ethan Hawke and Emma Watson, is satisfying as a compact, if over-cautious, horror-tinged psychological thriller. But it's most interesting beneath its polished, doomy surface, where complex concerns about the cultural origins of our fears are skillfully explored. - 40
Variety
Though performed with some perspiring conviction by Emma Watson and Ethan Hawke — as a confessed victim of cult abuse and the agnostic cop investigating her case — the pic is neither disquieting enough to take seriously, nor lurid enough for fright-night indulgence. - 40
Screen Daily
If some of this loud horror material looks frankly absurd, that’s only, Amenabar would no doubt argue, because it reflects the hackneyed, trick-or-treats way in which we give form and body to our night fears. Fine, but for a thriller to thrill, such didactic admonishments are not enough. - 40
The Telegraph
Amenábar is no stranger to psychologically vivid thrillers with ghostly overtones, but Regression feels depressingly like journeyman work. - 38
Slant Magazine
It spends a lot of time considering the fear of knowing, which may explain why Alejandro Amenábar didn’t seem to know what kind of film he was making. - 30
Los Angeles Times
Well-intended seriousness dismantles Regression, a not-exactly-horror horror movie that's also a mystery with no mystery. - 30
The New York Times
The movie is ultimately a tepid and frustrating experience. - 30
New York Magazine (Vulture)
Perhaps a story like this needed to be a drama. Or maybe, with its constant, almost comical shifting of blame, a dark satire. Instead, it’s wound up as the worst of all possible alternatives: a disposable genre movie that cannot scare, convince, or enlighten.
