Matt Damon's Only Horror Movie Is An Underrated Experimental Gem

When most people think of actor Matt Damon, they might picture him as Jason Bourne from "The Bourne Identity" and its sequels, or maybe as the titular character in the terrific crime thriller "The Talented Mr. Ripley." They might even think of him in puppet form (voiced by Trey Parker) from Parker and Matt Stone's "Team America: World Police." They probably wouldn't think about his small role in Steven Soderbergh's experimental 2018 horror film "Unsane," but they honestly should, because "Unsane" is an incredible little gem that deserves more appreciation. Sure, Damon has been in a ton of great movies, but were any of them shot entirely on an iPhone? 

"Unsane" tends to be a little polarizing, with some critics and audiences absolutely panning it (including /Film's own review), but viewer perspective is everything with this one because its horror is so deeply specific and personal. The film follows a young woman named Sawyer Valentini (Claire Foy), who is on the run from a stalker and is tricked into committing herself to a behavioral health facility, where people are increasingly unwilling to believe her. The movie puts us in Claire's shoes but also occasionally questions whether her version of events is accurate, making for great horror elements and representing what it's like to doubt your own reality. "Unsane" might not be a traditional horror movie, but it very accurately captures what it's like to be a woman in America. 

After Sawyer has been committed to the behavioral health facility against her will, we see flashbacks to her history with her stalker David (Joshua Leonard), who scared her so much that she took out a restraining order on him. Here, Damon appears as Detective Ferguson, who advises Sawyer on how to stay safe and avoid David. Unfortunately, the system that is supposed to protect her instead works completely against her. Damon is one of the only truly friendly faces in "Unsane," as Sawyer is ignored by most of the other people who could possibly help her, though he is in the film all too briefly and Sawyer is mostly on her own. 

As a horror movie about mental health, "Unsane" kind of works because it does a great job of balancing Sawyer's own self-doubt with the audiences' doubts about her reliability as a narrator. But where it really shines is as an example of what it can feel like to navigate the world as a woman in certain situations, especially when dealing with stalkers and personal well-being. While "Unsane" didn't work for everyone, it almost hit too close to home for me as a stalking victim myself. 

When I had a stalker in college, I reported it to the proper authorities and was essentially ignored unless I was willing to "have a meeting" with my stalker, who was known to be violent. I spent my entire senior year looking over my shoulder, and he ended up moving on to stalk other students with no repercussions. There is nothing like being terrified and not being taken seriously, and it's honestly part of why so many crimes of this nature go unreported. Many women have grown used to not being taken seriously, whether it's by law enforcement or medical professionals, and it's truly impressive how well Soderbergh was able to translate what that feels like onto the screen. 

Much like Leigh Whannell's "The Invisible Man," the horror of "Unsane" isn't necessarily just from the immediate danger of a single violent man, but from the way they (and the world) can make someone doubt their own sanity. It can be very isolating when the systems that are supposed to protect and help someone end up being useless or worse, and "Unsane" nails that claustrophobic, gnawing horror all too well.