Hellraiser (2022 film)

An imperfect film built on sloppy metaphor, but there’s no denying it is at least compelling. This “Hellraiser” mostly dispenses with trying to shock through BDSM imagery (though there’s enough hooks through skin to sate purists) and delivers its violence through sequences at the midpoint between artsy and hallucinatory, presented as exclamatory beats of a story in which the mystery of the box works as synecdoche for addiction. The allegory gets messier as the plot progresses and it never approaches greatness, but the most crucial actors deliver in spades and the ending felt earned, so I’m calling this a success.

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