My Review of Hypochondriac (2022)

 

Written And Directed by Adddison Heimann

Will (to himself): "There's something really wrong with me."

I was looking for some gay horror themed movies and I stumbled across this very odd and very confusing film. Focusing on a gay potter named Will (Zach Villa), he's a guy with a pretty traumatic past. 

With parents like his mother (Marlene Forte) and father (Chrus Doubek), it's no wonder that Will spent so much of this movie being traumatised, dreaming of wolf masks and struggling with both his work and his relationship with boyfriend, Luke (Devon Graye). Let's talk about the latter, shall we?

Luke seemed like a decent boyfriend on the surface. He cooked nice meals and wanted Will to meet his mother. Will kind of sabotaged the latter bit and as Will's mental state took a turn, he actually dumped Luke. That however didn't stop Will from seeking comfort in Luke when he was at an all time low.

I'll admit that I found the second half half of this movie absolutely confusing as hell. It seems like both of Will's parents did a number on him and there was a concern that he might have had ALS. His father threatened to have him locked up, his mother's return unsettled him and did he actually kill Luke?

Then when Will was institutionalised, it seemed he was maybe getting some help from his therapist there. I can't tell if the film had a positive or gloomy end for Will as a character or even what happened to Luke.

- There's some support roles from both Paget Brewster and Adam Busch as medical professionals attempting to help Will.

- Will's boss was a cruel bitch uninterested in his mental well being while Will had been helpful to a co-worker earlier in the film.

- Standout music: Jessie J's Domino. 

- Chronology: Present day Los Angeles, though a time jump between the younger and older versions of Will

I'm not sure how I feel about Hypochondriac as a film. I don't think I particularly liked it in terms of execution, in spite of the fact that its a personal story from the writer/director. Zach Villa did give a solid performance, so that helped.

Rating: 6 out of 10