Unsane

Sawyer Valentini is a woman close to the edge, and perhaps a little bit over… Moving hundreds of miles, changing jobs, phone numbers, email addresses, and taking out a restraining order to get away from her stalker have left her a little fraught, and struggling to cope. Although she knows that he’s on the other side of the country, she still sees him everywhere, so goes to talk to a counsellor. Finding her sympathetic, she signs up for more sessions (or so she thinks), but finds herself detained in a mental institution, with no way out! Surrounded by mental patients, and with all her complaining and frustration taken as further proof she’s crazy, she starts to question whether she really is. Things only get worse when she becomes convinced that one of the nurses is really her stalker…

Impressively, this was shot with nothing but an iPhone (not that you can tell), which gives it a gritty yet unreal quality throughout. Steven Soderbergh blurs the line between insanity and reality, making us question everything we see. The lead (Claire Foy, The Crown) puts in an excellent performance – brusque, cynical, yet struggling to survive desperate circumstances, though the cast are strong all-round, including Juno Temple (Killer Joe) and Joshua Leonard (Blair Witch Project).

Natalie Tyldesley-Marshall