Review: Painkillers

Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films, 2019

Images from the Internet

 

                                                               

Painkillers

Directed by Roxy Shih

Kew Media Group / Title Media / Lone Suspect

83 minutes, 2019

https://kewmedia.com/film/catalogue/new/

www.facebook.com/painkillersmovie2019/

 

How deep is your emotional pain? Does it turn into something physical? While this theme was used in David Cronenberg’s The Brood (1979), here it takes a deeper, yet also bloody turn.

 

Adam Huss

In the prologue, Misha Barton has “Drew Barrymore” cameo, shared with the great Maria Olsen who steals the scene, of course. After that we get introduced to the main characters, and their issues. After a tragic loss, surgeon John (Adam Huss) has to not only readjust to life with his wife, Chloe (Madeline Zima), but he now finds he is in constant physical pain. Apparently, the only temporary cure for this agony is to drink fresh blood. No, he’s not a vampire in the classic sense, and why blood affects him this way is never really addressed, but it is taken on face value. I’m okay with that, as it’s a genre film.

 

The other two main characters are John’s boss at the hospital, Gail (Debra Wilson, of “MADtv”), and Herb (Grant Bowler), who is in a similar situation as John but has nefarious ends in mind (not hard to figure that out within one minute of his introduction).

 

Madeline Zima

There are two positions that the film posits: first, will John reset his moral compass to obtain the fresh blood needed to ease his pain. As his body shakes in agony, he becomes distant from Chloe, who is also dealing with the same tragedy as John that started the whole blood thing, but she feels like she’s doing it on her own. This second, human emotional touch is different than most genre films, in that it lets the drama be more inclusive to those around the main character, something you don’t see very often.

 

There is some blood and squeamish knife cuttings here and there, but generally, this is more a dramatic story of a man and his family/friends struggling with some of the same issues in both direct and indirect ways. Because of this the pacing is a bit slow, but the tension definitely builds as the film rolls on.

 

One of the smart side-topics is the whole “Dexter” vigilante motif, when discussing the sources of the elixir of life. I can see a bunch of friends getting together after a viewing and having a “what would you do?” conversation about actions taken by the characters, perhaps over a game of Scruples.

 

Debra Wilson

The acting is top notch, with all the leads turning in solid performances, though Bowler’s character is too easy to read too early in the story, even if the means and motivations are not yet present.

 

I would be tempted call this more of a thriller than horror, even with the blood drinking, as it’s easy to substitute the cravings for blood to other addictions, especially in the medical field, and there is some play with that in the story. Again, this is a smart move.

 

Despite the high angst level throughout, there is a feeling of trying to balance a life or lives with a new normal. Taiwanese director Roxy Shih shows compassion for her characters, though I found the ending a bit unrealistic (no spoiler alerts). For only a second feature, she has done an admirable job.