If you’ve ever wanted to watch a horror movie that combines the thrills of psychological trauma with the subtlety of a brick to the face, then Clinical (2017) is your film. Directed by Alistair Legrand, this Netflix horror thriller will have you on the edge of your seat—mostly because you’re wondering if you should be sitting in a completely different room, far away from the mess you’re watching unfold on screen. It’s a film that promises chills, but instead leaves you with the sensation of watching a house of cards collapse in slow motion. Is it a horror movie? Yes. Is it a good horror movie? Well, let’s just say it’s more like a horror movie that needs a therapist.
The Plot: A Whole Lot of Nothing Wrapped in Mystery
The film begins with Dr. Jane Mathis (played by Vinessa Shaw), a psychiatrist with PTSD and sleep paralysis. Her life was forever altered when a previous patient, Nora Green (India Eisley), attempted suicide and violently attacked her in the process. Fast forward two years, and Jane is still wrestling with the trauma, despite doing her best to continue her practice and pretend everything is fine, like that one person at a party who insists their life is “totally together” while drowning in cheap wine and vague memories of the last time they felt happy.
Jane starts seeing a new patient, Alex (Kevin Rahm), who has a disfigured face from a car accident. He is clearly troubled, and it doesn’t take a Ph.D. in psychiatry to figure out that he’s a walking red flag. Meanwhile, Jane experiences increasingly bizarre events around her house, including bloodied photographs and dirty footprints, but naturally, she doesn’t think to call the cops. Instead, she proceeds to make every wrong decision possible. At one point, she even steals prescriptions from her own psychiatrist. This is a professional psychiatrist, people. In a movie where the protagonist should be the last person to make impulsive, reckless choices, Jane manages to trump all logic by becoming a case study for “How Not to Handle PTSD and Clinical Delusions.”
Of course, as any horror movie would have it, things spiral out of control quickly. Bizarre deaths, a disorienting sense of reality, and so many unsettling photographs follow, but in the end, we learn that it’s all a ploy by Alex to seek revenge for his daughter Nora’s tragic fate. It’s a twist so convoluted, you’ll need a flowchart just to keep track of the ever-widening web of lies, betrayals, and disfigured faces.
The Characters: A Collection of Red Flags
Dr. Jane Mathis is, without a doubt, one of the least sympathetic protagonists to grace the horror genre in recent years. She’s the kind of character who, instead of confronting her issues, decides to ignore them, which, frankly, would make her an ideal candidate for a psychological horror film—if the filmmakers had actually decided to make her arc compelling. Unfortunately, her arc is more like the slow, painful unraveling of someone who would rather pretend they’re fine than, you know, actually do something to help themselves. Her life seems to revolve around making everyone else’s issues her own, much like that one friend who’s always trying to “fix” things but only makes everything worse.
Then there’s Alex, the disfigured man with a grudge that lasts for two years, because apparently, that’s how long it takes to pull off a revenge plot involving psychiatric manipulation and drugging someone into a coma. He’s not particularly sinister or interesting. His entire backstory is thrown at you like a wet towel with too many twists that you can’t help but laugh at, mostly because it’s absurd. “Oh, so the evil guy had his face disfigured, staged a car accident, and is now pretending to be a victim? Great.” If this were a game of bingo, this would be the square titled “Villain 101: The Recipe for a Stock Character.”
And, of course, let’s not forget Jane’s colleague, Dr. Terry Drummond (William Atherton), who seems to have wandered in from a different, much more competent film. Dr. Terry exists only to deliver exposition and make you question why you’re still watching this slow-motion trainwreck.
The Horror: Jump Scares and Predictable Twists
At the core of Clinical is a deep psychological thriller that could have been, but unfortunately, it’s lost in a sea of cheap jump scares and predictable twists. Imagine a movie that hints at being a thoughtful exploration of trauma and psychological manipulation, but then pulls a cheap trick out of its sleeve and bam—someone is screaming while a loud noise plays. Just when you think the film will take you down an interesting path of unraveling a complex mystery, it veers right back into a cliched plot that any seasoned horror fan could predict from a mile away.
The scariest part of this film isn’t the supposed supernatural forces at play, but the ridiculous way the plot unfolds. Alex’s plan to torment Jane with a long-winded revenge plot would’ve made even the most avid fan of horror chuckle. You’re not scared; you’re just perplexed, wondering if there’s a deleted scene where Alex twirls his mustache and laughs maniacally while petting a cat.
And don’t even get me started on the final reveal. The “twist” is a ham-fisted attempt to make the audience gasp in shock, but in reality, it’s so clumsy that it’s more laughable than anything else. By the time the big reveal happens, you’re not horrified. You’re exhausted.
The Ending: A Nightmare that Never Ends (Except It Does)
So, what happens in the end? Well, spoiler alert (but not really because you can see it coming from the first five minutes): The entire thing is a poorly executed revenge plot by Alex. Jane, who has been terrorized for nearly two hours, finally uncovers the truth, but by that point, it doesn’t matter. The film wraps up with more forced shock than actual substance, leaving you with a sense of, “Is that it?” The movie doesn’t so much conclude as it just… stops. It’s like watching a person slowly pull a chair away from the table, only to sit back down and say, “Well, that’s all folks!” without actually delivering anything of worth.
Conclusion: “Clinical”? More Like “Clinically Awful”
Clinical is the kind of movie that leaves you feeling like you’ve just had a bad dream. But it’s not the good kind of bad dream. It’s the kind of dream where you wake up in a panic, go to the bathroom, and then come back to bed, only to realize the nightmare is still playing out on your screen, and it’s just as stupid as before.
The film desperately tries to carve out its own niche in the world of psychological thrillers but ends up doing nothing more than rehashing every predictable trope in the genre. Characters who make laughable decisions, a plot that drags like a broken sled in snow, and a final act that makes you wish the twist was “end of movie, credits roll.” In short, Clinicaloffers no real satisfaction, no real scares, and nothing memorable other than the fact that you just wasted 90 minutes of your life that you’ll never get back.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ – A “thriller” that thrills about as much as a stale cracker.
