Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2018
Images from the Internet
Delusion
Written, produced and directed by Christopher
Di Nunzio
Creepy Kid
Productions
85
minutes, 2016
Here is
the truth: I watched this film last year, and wrote a review. Computers being
computers, the Word file became corrupted, and the critique went bye-bye. I
needed some time to regather before I watched the film again, and as life happens,
I forgot about it. Well, one year and two weeks later, I gave it a second
viewing. I’m glad I watched it again, because I caught things I missed the
first time, having had time to process.
Technically,
as the director informed me, Delusion
is a “psychological thriller,” and while I don’t belabor the notion, I believe
that’s an incomplete statement. There is also a metaphysical level that either
takes it beyond the thriller concept, or perhaps is concurrent to it, but either way, it’s something that I like.
Thrillers can be fun, and adding the supernatural to it definitely bumps it up
a notch.
 |
| David Graziano |
The plot
is like a Buddy Holly song: on first listen, it’s a simple ditty that’s fun to
sing along with, but then, when you dig a bit deeper, you see that the chord
structures and rhythms are a bit more complex than you first realized; “Maybe
Baby” is the example on my mind right now. Like that tune, our protagonist, Frank
Parrillo (David Graziano), seems like a simple man (meaning uncomplex; he’s a
software developer who telecommutes). He is middle-aged and lonely since his
adored wife Isabella (Carlyne Fournier) had died mysteriously three years
before. Then, a letter from her unexpectedly arrives in the mail, as he
explains to his caring nephew, Tommy (Justin Thibault). Before her passing, he
was a typical Eastern Massachusetts (Carver, about 45 miles south of Boston,
though the film is shot in a 50 radius of Boston) lug who dismissed Isabella’s
suggestions on serenity, but now he’s following her lead post-mortem, mediating
and taking life as it comes.
 |
| Jami Tennille |
He drops
into a storefront psychic named Lavinia (Irina Peligrad) on a whim and she
warns him of an evil surrounding him. Around this time, he meets a mysterious
and scarred man named Grayson (Kris Salvi), and a beautiful (and age
appropriate, I’m happy to say) woman who seems to be sashaying everywhere he
is, named Mary (Jami Tennille). It’s no question these two are the nastiness
Lavinia foretold. How can you tell? Not only do they smoke a lot, but they both draw on the cigarettes really hard. He tends to talk in riddles, and
she essentially starts the conversation with “So, you want to fuck me?” Both
turn up (at different times) unexpectedly in his home.
Okay,
that’s about as much of the plot as I’m gonna give. Mixed in with the madness,
there are flashbacks to conversations with his wife, leading up to some missing
plot points, and contrasting with his relationship with Mary in the same way
Tommy is the anti-Grayson. And that the spirit of Isabella is popping in and
out is weighing in on Frank.
 |
| Irina Peligrad |
Being
“psychological,” the big question to ask is how much of this is meta-reality,
and how much of it is in Frank’s noggin, considering he’s taking pills because
of a breakdown at some point earlier. Plus, in a literary way, one can see the
whole devil/angel-shoulder metaphor here, with Mary on one side, Isabella on
the other, with Grayson and Lavinia trying to turn him one way or the other.
Despite the
languid pace of the story and dialog, and the occasional arty nature of the
visuals – and yes, dialog – the film actually is able to keep attention.
There’s even a little bit of blood spilt here and there, again, sometimes real
and sometimes metaphorical in a dream. Even with all the angles and the
coloration of many of the shots, the level of abstraction is rarely high enough
to be obtuse (other than occasionally with Grayson’s verbiage).
 |
| Kris Salvi |
The film
also begs the question just who is the titular delusional one? And just what is
either delusion or is merely something beyond the knowing? In other words, like
that Buddy Holly song, there are different levels to the film in which it can
be viewed, but I do believe the deeper the viewer seeks the more satisfaction
there is to be had.
Considering
the relatively diminutive central cast members (with many smaller parts), there
is a decent amount of mayhem to be seen, and even a bit of viscera thrown in to
keep it even more interesting. While the few moments of gore are not necessary
to the story in the long run, it certainly makes it satisfying for what is
unfolding.
 |
| Carlyne Fournier and David Graziano |
Most of
the acting in the film is very “non-acting” and natural feeling, and it took me
a while especially to get used to Graziano’s laissez-faire style of going with
the flow, but it actually is more of an accomplished build-up of a character. There
felt like real affection and chemistry between Graziano and Fournier, which
helped the story. Personally, I thought Salvi was trying too hard, and actually
would have been more effective to be looser rather than tenser, considering he’s
the malevolent Loki or devil figure… or perhaps he’s actually a warning angel;
I guess it’s up for interpretation.
The fact
that it is debatable for discussion on
who is good and evil, and who is delusional – and I would go as far as to say what the definition of delusion in this
context is – shows a sharpness of the story and writing. The way the film is
shot and the effects added to it (again, the occasional odd angles and hues), I
would posit, puts the viewer into the possible delusional position as well.
If you’re
looking for a slice-'em-up, even with minimal gore here, this is not for you.
If you would like to take a break from that mindless splatter, or just want to
think about what you’re looking at, this is a nice little micro-budget indie that
stretches itself to fit that bill.
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