What We Know About A Cure for Wellness

The first trailer for Gore Verbinski's A Cure for Wellness offered a surreal look at the movie without really explaining what the movie dealt with. This approach can either entice one's curiosity or alienate viewers fearing the movie will simply contain a series of bizarre imagery with little substance holding them together.

Last week, 20th Century Fox held a 2017 Showcase featuring footage from this movie along with Alien: Covenant, Logan, and War for the Planet of the Apes. You can see our coverage for Apes here. A second trailer has been released which reveals more of the story elements from the movie.

There may be some minor spoilers below.

A Cure for Wellness deals with a young and ambitious executive played by Dane DeHaan. He's sent to retrieve the CEO of their business who hasn't returned since taking leave at a "wellness center" in Switzerland. Once he arrives, he discovers things are not as they seem.

At the showcase, Verbinski stated this is the type of movie that is good to watch when you don't know what it's about. Despite this, the first 30 minutes of the film were shown. There is a haunting and mysterious vibe that fills every scene. This is compounded by having a lead character who isn't overly verbose with his thoughts or feelings. Simply wanting to get down to business, he doesn't spend a lot of time with self reflection. This allows you to take in all the details of the environment in each scene.

The wellness center is located on top of a mountain over a small village. We immediately get a sense that there is more going on beneath the surface. There is bad blood between the villagers and the people on the hill. Once DeHaan arrives, he discovers there are strict visiting hours. Even though he missed the window by ten minutes, the director gives him a little information about the place but tells him he'll need to return later.

As DeHaan's car makes the journey back down the mountain where he can get cell phone reception, a brutal car accident lands him back at the center with a broken leg. This puts an obvious kink in his plans for returning home that evening but also gives him access to the facility. The big question will be whether or not he'll be able to leave once he finds the CEO.

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Verbinski mentioned using a dream logic narrative for the movie. A story doesn't have to be linear as long as it makes sense. He admitted he had to go to a dark place inside to make the movie and was just starting to crawl out of it. Currently working on the marketing aspects, the challenge is getting people to see it without the advantage of theme parks, toys, or plans for sequels. He did have a lot of freedom to do what he wanted. Working in Germany with a cast and crew he hadn't worked with before allowed him to work without preconceptions.

Verbinkski feels society is obsessed with wellness. We all have a general sickness as part of the human condition. We're born, go to school, work, and one day you could get hit by a bus and die. He wants to raise the question of what is the purpose for everything we do?

As for what the rest of the movie holds, Verbinski wouldn't spoil anything. The movie also features Jason Isaacs and Mia Goth. We'll have to wait until February 17, 2017, to find out more.