Hermione has gone from Potter to potty in the confusing Regression, says BRIAN VINER 

By Brian Viner, Film Critic for the Daily Mail

Published: 19:15 EST, 8 October 2015 | Updated: 02:34 EST, 9 October 2015

Regression (15)

Verdict: Confused and confusing 

Rating:

With her choice of film roles, Emma Watson has been only half-heartedly distancing herself these past few years, from the part that made her famous.

She hasn’t shrugged off Hermione Granger nearly as comprehensively as Daniel Radcliffe has tried to deal with Harry Potter; and Regression, full of dark arts of which even Lord Voldemort might be proud, in some ways isn’t likely to help the process along.

On the other hand, there’s not much of Hermione in Watson’s character Angela, a young woman who accuses her own father of sexually abusing her, and other members of her family of indulging in satanic rituals, which include the stabbing to death of a baby.

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Drowning in dark arts: Emma Watson has only been half-heartedly trying to distance herself from Hermione Granger

Drowning in dark arts: Emma Watson has only been half-heartedly trying to distance herself from Hermione Granger

All this happens in a remote Minnesota town, and is supposedly based on a raft of similar true-life cases all across the U.S. in the early Nineties.

Investigating Angela’s grotesque claims is Bruce, an intense detective played by Ethan Hawke, who spends his time either whispering or shouting, and rapidly runs out of people to trust, since even his fellow cops seem to be implicated in the witchcraft claims.

Still, at least there’s a renowned psychologist seemingly willing to help. This is Dr Raines, rather quirkily played by David Thewlis, with no effort to hide his Blackpool accent.

How a Lancastrian came to wind up in the Minnesotan boondocks talking about ‘spontaneous regression’ is never explained, but then that’s the least of the mysteries with which this blighted town is saddled.

For a while Regression chugs along as a reasonably watchable psychological thriller, but then it lurches into horror territory, which is where writer-director Alejandro Amenabar lost me.

He has talked in interviews about wanting to explore different genres in this film, but usually it’s best to stick to just one.

Watson’s character Angela, a young woman who accuses her own father of sexually abusing her, and other members of her family of indulging in satanic rituals

Watson’s character Angela, a young woman who accuses her own father of sexually abusing her, and other members of her family of indulging in satanic rituals

 

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