Dylan Kelly

While the movie certainly had it's funny moments, they were only a small reprieve from the aggravating and cringe-worthy storyline. *Spoilers* * * * Throughout the movie, you see Adam Sandler's character (Dave) psychologically tortured by the "unorthodox" psychiatrist character played by Jack Nicholson (Buddy). Only to find out in the end that the entire events of the movie were orchestrated by Buddy at the behest of Dave's girlfriend, played by Marisa Tomei (Linda). This seems to be a perverted attempt at commentary on anger and confidence. But ultimately fails in it's delivery. Basically Linda doesn't want to deal with Dave's trauma-induced boundaries and lack of confidence. So she sicks a demented psychiatrist on him. Who teaches him to lash out in frustration and reinforces Dave's co-dependant mindset towards Linda.

I couldn't tell what this movie was trying to do. It wasn't scary. It wasn't intriguing. It wasn't a social commentary. From the first scene, I literally thought that I had clicked on the wrong movie. Felt like I was watching a SCI-FI flick. Then when the movie gets to its main storyline, the atmosphere completely changed. And then it did again, and again, and again. It was consistently inconsistent. It was like if you mixed a police comedy drama with a SCI-FI action thriller, and had the director of Jason X head the film. The only props I can give this movie is that it was sincerely funny at times. But not when it was trying to be funny. No. It was funny when it was trying to subvert your expectations with nonsense and expected you to be shocked and intrigued. With all of James Wan's previous amazing work, this is a sincere let down. They marketed this movie like it was the next Conjuring, but it's nothing close. Best way to describe it is as a comedy slasher. If you're thinking about seeing it in theaters or anything that will cost you extra money. Just don't. If you have HBOMax, and you want a decent laugh, I recommend it. But for literally nothing else.