Written and directed by Jude Rawlins, a young woman attempts to escape her narcissist mother but becomes embroiled in a far worse nightmare. Starring: Avery Knudson, Rob Merritt, Patricia O’Neil, Rebecca Haroldson, Amy Van Holland, Carly Neel, Mike Provenzano and Cheyenne Goode.
Within Mania there are certainly a lot of themes that are extremely worthy of discussion, controlling and coercive behaviour, psychological damage and toxic relationships but the route that it takes to explore them, doesn’t handle them sensitively enough. Unfortunately, the writing is simple, the progression of the plot feels transparent and so it doesn’t have much to add beyond its initial scenes. Which means that it moves sluggishly and struggles to build up an atmosphere or intrigue, to keep you plugged in.
Another cause of that issue is the cinematography, the quality is frequently changing, some scenes much better than others which makes it feel inconsistent. There are also a few clumsy shot choices and transitions which stop it from flowing more naturally. The way that it moves is asking for a lot of naivety from its audience, expecting the best of people so that you can be surprised when darker elements arise.
Sadly, the performances don’t help with that either, they miss the mark on bringing individual personalities. The chemistry between the two leads isn’t there, their romance is rushed so never feels organic. They do also make attempts at intimacy which feel unnecessary and uncomfortable. Patricia O’Neil also feels as though she’s hitting notes that would fit better in a soap opera environment, rather than injecting tension and bitterness. Avery Knudson’s Dandy comes across as much too naïve which doesn’t pair well with Rob Merritt’s Harris who can be heavy-handed.
Mania sets out to create a mystery but never feels like it has enough to hide, leaving precious little to be revealed and ending up with a meandering journey. It makes a good attempt to build a lot of suspicion but there’s ultimately nowhere for it to go, because you can see where this story is headed. It feels as though there needed to be more pieces to this puzzle, to draw itself out less and focus on adding complexities and fleshing out its characters.
FilmCarnage.com 