Review by Eric Hillis
Directed by: Nicholas Pineda
Starring: Paul Syre, Mark Anthony Williams, Danielle Kennedy, Corinna Wagner-Smith
Infirmary appears to be a product of the "we have a creepy location, let's make a horror movie" school of filmmaking. The setting is an abandoned psychiatric institution, and its many corridors and shadowy corners make for an ideal backdrop for a found footage chiller. It also taps into the current fad for liminal space horror, and while it began to play festivals well before the release of Backrooms, I suspect director Nicholas Pineda was heavily influenced by that horror hit's web series predecessor.
It's a classic "first night on the job" setup, as young ex-marine Edward (Paul Syre) auditions for the role of security guard at the Wilshire Infirmary, an out of commission psychiatric institution with a murky past. To land the post Edward will have to impress Lester (Mark Anthony Williams), a grizzled veteran guard who seems to take an instant dislike to the nervous Edward. Lester gets on Edward's ass from the off, mocking his awkwardness in a way that crosses the line into workplace harassment, especially when he forces the rookie to climb inside a mortuary drawer. The only other person onsite is an elderly administrator known only as Ms. Downey.
Pineda opens his film with an FBI tag stating that what we're about to see is footage collected from the asylum's CCTV cameras and the bodycams worn by Edward and Lester. We're also told that two corpses were found while a third party remains missing. This immediately sets up a guessing game regarding which of the three characters will end up dead, who might the surviving third be, and whether or not the latter is responsible for the demise of the former. All three characters are odd enough to rouse suspicion. Lester is an asshole who seems more than a little unstable. Downey is an odd duck to say the least - at one point the camera holds on her staring into space in her office like one of the many medical mannequins that dot the rooms of the facility. Even Edward seems a bit off. Do we really believe that this awkward waif is an ex-marine? The story he spins to Downey regarding why the army won't sign his disability benefits form seems like a tall tale.
Infirmary never quite does enough with its mystery element, preferring to focus on Backrooms-esque atmosphere (even its yellow colour scheme seems inspired by that cult sensation). It does a decent job of mining moodiness from its setting, with the aforementioned medical mannequins playing the same role as the inanimate clowns of the Hell House LLC franchise.
But Infirmary works best as a twisted character drama. Anyone who worked crummy jobs as a teenager or while in college will be familiar with people like Lester, bitter old men angry at how their lives turned out who resent young people and everything they represent. The dynamic between Lester and Edward is all too recognisable, with Williams particularly convincing. When Lester drops the bravado to recite a tale about a chilling incident involving his dog, Williams exposes a more vulnerable human side of the blowhard. The found footage format isn't especially conducive to great acting performances, but Pineda wisely makes sure his fake CCTV and bodycams capture his cast's emotional moments in a way that doesn't appear overly staged.
It's when Infirmary goes searching for answers to its established ambiguity that things become less interesting. The final act sees a character descends to a place they've been warned to steer clear of, and the movie devolves into an all too recognisable sequence of dashing about dimly lit corridors. The addition of a minimal score breaks the found footage conceit rather than ramping up the atmosphere. Things are left open for a possible sequel, but I'm not sure Infirmary has enough ideas for one movie, let alone a series.
Infirmary is on Shudder from October 2nd.
