One of my goals in making this blog is to be sure to cover a wide variety of genres in my viewing of terrible movies. With Cats being as completely horrifying as it was, I was left wondering if I even needed to do a horror film. But then I saw that The Turning managed a measly 13% from both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. So, yeah, I saw that shit.
Single-Sentence Synopsis: (Semi-Spoilers)
A young woman with a troubled past accepts a position as the governess of a massively creepy mansion, where she cohabits with an equally creepy old woman and takes care of two equally troubled children, until those little shits quite literally drive her insane. Or at least that’s what I think it was about…
Review:
“Wait I don’t get it” were the first words my roommate said as the end credits began to roll. Looking at me with complete bewilderment, she clearly expected her cinephile friend to have a well-worded explanation that could make sense of the preceding hour and a half of grey area. I had nothing. As we remained in our seats stunned, even as the house lights came up, I think we both began to wonder if we had missed something or failed to grasp a major aspect of the film’s plot. But then the lady who had been sitting a few rows behind us stopped on her way down the stairs to inquire, “Did y’all get that ending?” And that’s when I knew that this movie was just straight up fucking confusing. Or perhaps the better way to put it is that the movie itself is confused. It doesn’t know how to say what it’s trying to say, and quite possibly doesn’t know what it’s trying to say in the first place. I genuinely can’t tell.
Every time I see a bad film come out, I wonder to myself, “who the hell let that film get made?” Ultimately, I come to the same conclusion every time: most bad movies are bad because they simply do not need to be good. Production companies use an algorithm that pops out just the right elements needed to draw in enough unsuspecting audience members for a return to be made on the company’s investment. Simple as that. Even a steaming pile of dog shit will turn a profit if it’s got Will Smith starring in it, right? Maybe that’s a bit cynical, but I really don’t think it’s that far off. The Turning does not strike me as this kind of movie. If I had to guess, I think that someone somewhere along the line actually had a good idea for a movie. Unfortunately, that idea got lost in a sea of excessive red herrings and loose ends that will never be tied up. Not to mention a deeply unlikable main character whose downright incompetence at every turn is more shocking than the jump scares. But, hey! At least they tried! I think?
The way I see this movie, it is a piece of commentary on mental health. However, “commentary” in this sense is used very broadly. As in, it seems like the film is attempting to say something about mental health. Do I know what it intends to say? Absolutely fucking not. Your guess is as good as mine. That being said, this movie really made me think. I can’t stop thinking about it. And that’s got to be worth something.
Normally—or at least is the case with my first two reviews—I feel the urgent need to insist that no other soul waste their time and money on the heinous film through which I have just suffered. This time is different. I almost kind of liked this film (or at least I didn’t hate it). But more importantly, I need someone else to see this movie so they can tell me what the hell is going on. PSA: Cinemark Baldwin Hills has $8 tickets for students! Please use this knowledge to go watch this utterly perplexing film without breaking your bank so that you can talk to me about it.
Scoring Rubric: (On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most puzzling)
- Ending – 5/5
- Filmmakers’ intentions – 4/5
- Protagonist’s motivations – 3/5
- The fact that I’m recommending more people go watch this – 4/5
Overall score: 4/5 (Confusing enough that I can’t confidently say that it’s bad)
Who Let These Movies Happen? 