Regression (film)

Plot

The film takes place in Minnesota, in 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner (Ethan Hawke) investigates the case of John Gray (David Dencik), who admits to sexually abusing his 17-year-old daughter Angela (Emma Watson) but has no recollection of the abuse. They seek the help of Professor Kenneth Raines (David Thewlis) to use recovered-memory therapy on John Gray to retrieve his memories, and come to suspect that their colleague Detective George Nesbitt (Aaron Ashmore) is involved. They detain him but fail to find evidence against him. Detectives suspect a satanic cult is involved because of Angela's testimony, in which Angela says that she was abused by people in masks and someone took pictures of it.

Bruce and Kenneth meet Angela's estranged brother Roy Gray (Devon Bostick) to inquire about why he left the house. Using the regression technique on him, he recalls hooded figures entering his room while he was young. Bruce and Kenneth suspect Roy's grandmother, Rose Gray (Dale Dickey), has some involvement but find nothing after a search of her house.

Meanwhile, Bruce begins having nightmares involving satanic rituals. Angela tells him that the cult is out to kill her as she has shown her demonic mark to him and that he is in danger as well. She tells him that her mother received miscellaneous calls and saw strange figures staring at her in the street before she met with an accident. Bruce starts to experience the same things and his nightmares increase in intensity.

Rose jumps from the window of her house after seeing ghostly figures, injuring herself. Bruce meets Angela in the church's cemetery to reassure her and after an emotional outburst, she kisses him. Shocked, Bruce leaves her there and returns to his home. He sees a soup advertisement on the street and recognizes the woman in it as the one he sees in his nightmares. He concludes that his imagination has run away with him. He tells Kenneth that all these past memories are induced by therapy and the whole situation is just the result of mass hysteria. Though the professor is initially resistant to the idea, he too comes to suspect that these memories were not real.

Bruce is attacked by two hooded figures who finally reveal themselves as George and their colleague, Farrell (Aaron Abrams). George was seeking revenge after Bruce detained him as a child molester and ruined his career. Bruce offers to forget the whole situation if George tells everything he knows. After George reveals things, Bruce confronts Angela about her abuse and she insists she told the truth. Finally Bruce concludes that she was fabricating everything from the beginning as she wanted to escape from her family, whom she thinks are responsible for her mother's death. She wanted to elope with George, as they had a sexual relationship for some time, but he refused to elope with a minor. Angela accused her father in order to escape the house. When Bruce confronts her, she tells him that no one is going to believe him, especially if she tells them that they kissed in the cemetery. Bruce tells John everything but John decides to take the blame and pleads guilty in order to rescue Angela and hopes that she will forgive him one day for being a bad father.

The film ends with a statement that many cases like this were reported before the satanic abuse hysteria faded.

Production

On October 31, 2013, it was announced that Ethan Hawke would star in the upcoming thriller film Regression and Alejandro Amenábar would direct on his own script, while FilmNation Entertainment would be holding the international rights. On February 5, 2014, Emma Watson also joined the film to co-star with Hawke. On March 25, David Dencik joined the cast of the film, he would play a man who is arrested in a Minnesota town for sexually abusing his daughter. On May 23, Devon Bostick was added to the cast of the film.

Filming

Principal photography of the film began on April 15, 2014, in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Emma Watson stated, "First day shooting Regression today – a very cool birthday present xx." The first day of shooting was her 24th birthday which she spent filming a church scene at University of Toronto Mississauga. On May 5, filming was taking place in Tottenham, and it will be filming until June 12. On June 3, it was reported that Watson was back in Toronto to continue the rest of filming after spending some time in the UK and also graduating from Brown. On January 28, 2015, the crew filmed several additional scenes or reshoots in Mississauga.

Marketing

On June 10, 2014, TWC-Dimension revealed a first look photo from the film. On February 12, 2015, the first trailer was released. On February 1, 2016, the U.S. trailer for the film was released.

Release

In November 2013, The Weinstein Company acquired the US distribution rights to the film. The film was originally set for an August 28, 2015 release, but was pulled from the schedule. The film was then pushed back to February 5, 2016. The film will be released on Amazon Instant Video thirty days after its US theatrical release.

The film had its world premiere at the San Sebastián International Film Festival on September 18, 2015. The film was released in Spain on October 2, 2015 and in the United Kingdom on October 9, 2015.

Reception

Regression received generally negative reviews from critics, mostly receiving criticism for the film's third act. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 14% rating, based on 36 reviews, leaving a rating average of 4.2/10. The site's consensus reads, "Regression boasts a pair of eminently likable leads – neither of whom are able to dislodge the movie from the mire of psychological thriller mediocrity." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 32 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".