Unsane

Returning to the territory of 2013's Side Effects, Steven Soderbergh once again takes aim at the US healthcare system, here with a focus on the questionable practices of mental institutions. In a rare contemporary role, Claire Foy plays a fragile but functioning data analyst who has relocated to flee her stalker. When she seeks counselling at a behavioural facility she is conned into committing herself; once inside, her sanity crumbles and she is plagued by, what seem to be, delusions. It's a horribly compelling premise and Unsane's depiction of a shady institution is quirky and credible. Sadly, the satirical skew and psychological probing give way to a schlocky, far-fetched thriller with echoes of Brian De Palma, while a cameo from Matt Damon is unforgivably indulgent and insensitively timed. Still, the woman at its centre is wonderfully complicated. Superior, sarcastic and often breathtakingly insincere, Foy's protagonist can be deliciously nasty while her circumstances elicit our sympathy, and the actress plays her with something like relish. The tonal shift is jarring but Foy is spectacularly good.