Film Review: Bipolar (2014)

SYNOPSIS:

When Harry Poole tries out a new medication for Bipolar Disorder, he is reborn as “Edward Grey”, a seductive but dangerous alter ego who dramatically takes over his life, changing the young man and those around him forever

REVIEW:

http://bbrfoundation.org/ – disorder causes dramatic mood swings—from feeling overly “high” and/or irritable to sad and hopeless, and then back again, often with periods of normal mood in between. Severe changes in energy and behavior go along with these episodes. The periods of highs and lows are called episodes of mania and depression. It is often not recognized as an illness, and people may suffer for years before it is properly diagnosed and treated.

so..yea.. ok, this is really a strange film. I mean, bipolar disorder does not work the way it does in the film, but for the sake of cinematic license, I’ll not harp upon that and move forward with the review.

*****TRIGGER WARNING FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE******

so our main character Harry takes part in a clinical trial for a drug that is believed to cure bipolar disorder. His mother committed suicide, and his dad is less than present. Our boy has some issues…and rightly so.

at first it seems the medicine is  doing him some good. However, due to some issues with the other test subjects, the experiment is suddenly ended. Our boy is upset, but his hot nurse Anna hooks him up with a supply to keep him going.

Apparently the medication has pulled forth an alternate personality called Edward – suave,cool, and totally a ladies man. Edward has all the confidence that our hero lacks, and well…there we go.

So Harry/ Edward begins a serious relationship with his hot nurse and it looks like every thing is going well for our hero.

Sounds like it’s not so bad, right? yea. the experiment was stopped for a reason.

Following his release from the experiment, Harry/Edward continues to document his life on home video for the doctor so he can “follow up”…I guess.

Harry shares his home with his stoner brother, and at first all it seems that the two of them have a great love for each other. But as Edward takes over, that seems to become less of a reality, at least from Edward’s standpoint.

then there is this other broad who gets the hots for him. too bad she has a boyfriend. a volatile boyfriend. and that becomes a thing. then the video documentation gets a little…blue. Meanwhile, we have the side story of Harry’s father’s attempt to reconnect after what appears to be years of seperation.

and as we move forward in the story, Edward becomes the dominate personality. and it only goes wrong from there.

This is all sorts of a modern version of the story of Doctor Jeckyl and Mister Hyde. Edward is basically Harry’s id, acting out all of his violent, revenge fantasies. And it gets uglier and uglier until Edward finally takes over completely and crosses the line of humanity. He goes on a killing spree that is beyond expectation. Sadly, we only hear Edward describe all of this violence. We, the audience, don’t get to see any of it. but we get to watch Harry/Edward spiral into madness on home video, and I think it is the best use of FPS/found footage I have seen to date. There is some really nasty stuff that happens between Harry/Edward and his girlfriend (not the hot nurse) that is just too awful to describe. Ergo, my trigger warning at the beginning of this review.

The actor is quite good at playing both characters, almost simultaneously at times. As the viewer, you both sympathise and hate him at the same time. and honestly….some girls are so damn stupid it makes you want to scream. Just sayin…

I started watching this film with a level of indifference, but by the end I was in desperate need of a shower and maybe some therapy. It’s disturbing how the character of Harry/Edward evolves. And his final revenge? yea…. In all honesty, I’m a bit uncomfortable watching it.

Let’s talk cast shall we? our main character, Harry/Edward, is played by Andrew J West, who some of you may recoognize from the city of Terminus in The Walking Dead.

Emma Bell, also from The Walking Dead, plays the hot nurse Anna.

The other actors all have one-offs from tv and movies, including Transformers, NCIS, and other series.

I didn’t want to like this film, but I totally did. Creepy, disturbing, real world horror.

On a scale of one to ten, ten being awesome, I give this film 8 jagged little pills.