As Mastemah opens, we’re presented with a disturbing, albeit poetically portrayed scene following a hypnosis session that sees a patient throw himself out of a high storey building, plummeting to his death. This singular moment sets up the narrative to pose a couple of important questions that run throughout the film; is this a result of hypnotic persuasion? Is there something darker that has a hold on the psyche? It’s a subject that is clearly of interest to director and writer, Didier D. Daarwin, who delves deeper into the subject with his protagonist/antagonist, Louise Wilmens (Camille Razat – Girls With Balls), a character who spends most of the film seemingly questioning her own actions and reactions that are presented. When Louise sets up her own practice in a remote setting, following the afore-mentioned events, one could view this as a time for healing and the isolation from a city lifestyle, but is there something more sinister at play?

To allow this internal journey to spiral forever inward and thus project manifestations outward, the character of Louise takes on a series of patients, primarily a brooding enigmatic male figure, Theo (Olivier Barthélémy) who embodies a stereotype of mysterious masculinity. The more embroiled Louse becomes in unpacking Theo’s mind, the more she succumbs to both hers and his sexual being. These perceptions murky the water to the point of confusion and winds its way down to a complex conclusion.Throw into the mix a mentor figure in Francois de Maestre (Tibo Vandenborre) who continually questions or queries and in some cases supports Louise’s actions, that the audience is further trying to figure out who or what is pulling the strings, so that by the time the climax occurs, we’re left floundering rather than grasping securely to what has been proposed.

The Prognosis:

There’s plenty to unpack in Daarwin’s vision, which much like the psychological mind can lead one astray. The issue is with the execution and in presenting a convoluted analysis, and in deliberately being aloof in what helms the theoretical, the audience struggles to be convinced and lost in the mix.

• Saul Muerte 

Mastemah is currently streaming on Shudder.