Review Detail

This edit takes what is ultimately a middling movie with a remarkable turn by Claire Foy and leans into everything that works about the original, tweaking and rearranging what does not fit. Keeping the film largely from Sawyer's perspective is one of the strongest choices, in my opinion. If we're going to tell a story about trauma, mental illness, and insurance fraud, keeping thing's chronological and cerebral is the way to go. Using the Matt Damon cameo as the cold open works wonderfully, providing just enough context to Sawyer's situation that we can both start to connect the dots and sympathize with our lead.

The added context from Matt Damon's cameo also sets the viewer up to understand Sawyer's two major panic/PTSD attacks (first with the bar guy, then more clearly with the asylum official) so that when David does appear, both Sawyer and the viewer experience the fear and confusion.

Where this edit is at its strongest, however, is with the final act. Keeping the focus on Sawyer and her escape from the asylum avoids the cliches of the original film--David turning from impotent stalker to explicit slasher felt like much more of a studio note than a natural conclusion to the narrative. I'll also say that I appreciate the trims to the Sawyer/Violet/David confrontation--Sawyer seizing her moment to escape feels much more satisfying without her also deliberately throwing Violet to the wolves.

Overall, a fantastic edit and the definitive version of this film in my personal opinion.