DUAL MANIA: Putting The ‘Psycho’ In Psychosis

Isn’t it amazing how many great stories can go undiscovered when the mighty shadow of L.A.’s Hollywood Sign looms so high in all its glory? Which seems to be the case for Joseph Strickland‘s debut Dual Mania; a tepid yet reflective psycho-thriller that shares a similar DNA with Steven Soderbergh‘s Side Effects and poses like the long-lost, conservative brother of William Lustig‘s Maniac. It’s the kind of twisty double-hander that the 90’s used to churn-out so effortlessly and has the power to tap into the darker side of our consciousness, especially if you’re willing to forgive its aforementioned relatives for stealing the limelight first.

Reverse Therapy

Set amongst the cool hues of Chicago’s city district, the story examines the complex relationship between psychotherapist, Dr. Steve Livingston (Joseph Plummer), and his new patient, Tommy (Michael Spitz). As most professional transactions would unravel in the beginning, the nature of their relationship starts out like any other – clinical and rigid, but it doesn’t take long before unsettling secrets start coming out of the woodwork from both sides.

At first, Livingston pigeonholes Tommy’s impulsive behaviour as an attempt to get his hands on medications, yet, that initial diagnosis becomes murky when the doctor himself realises that his patient’s condition strangely mirrors his personal life at home alongside his fiancé, Lydia (Sherrice Eaglin). As Tommy’s condition begins to intensify, an uninvited bond between the two men begins to form and it starts to become clear that they might happen to have more in common than meets the eye.

The Waiting Room

Strickland clearly has an interesting story to tell and uses the strength of his cast to tell it. If one thing could be said, the cast features a mix of mostly unfamiliar faces that really breathes life into the director’s vision. Spitz manages to integrate a dorky charm into Tommy’s fractured persona – which at first comes off as an almost new-age Rick Moranis type, but he soon transforms Tommy into a far more unstable version of a man at odds with his own desires as his liaisons with women start to spiral out of control. On the other hand, Plummer portrays a suitable air of confidence to match the professional ego of Dr. Livingston, but the actor always leaves just enough room for us to see glimpses of a man tainted with a shade of doubt. Yet, even in some of his most earnest moments, Plummer also exudes a level of sarcasm to lighten things up, which is always welcome. 

As for the supporting roles – each one is solidly believable, but none have quite enough screen time to make enough of a dramatic impact up against the two leads. Who, in all honesty, are the driving force for this intimate narrative anyway. Although, it is refreshing to see a handful of screen talents plucked from the outer recesses of a blockbuster wasteland, because they feel like real people whose lives were once captured on celluloid, lost on a cutting room floor and then one day spliced together to make sense of these two mens’ troubled pasts.

A Freudian Treat

Despite having a few moments that lose some of their cinematic power due to minor technical restraints, a huge positive about Dual Mania is that it most definitely has a personality of its own. Even so, the combination of a 16mm filmic grain, moody lighting, and the choice to follow a fairly linear narrative structure are precisely what gives the film its edge of difference. While some scenes are often contained to claustrophobic settings, saturated in aggressively vibrant colour palettes and feel ripped straight from the archives of a 70’s art décor magazine, other scenes are so heavily submerged in a hazy (and almost sleazy) darkness to the point that your psyche is forced to make up the imagery unfolding – almost as if you were trying to decipher an ink-blot painting. Whether or not any of these aesthetic elements were intended or were just a matter of sheer luck is beside the point, because they all add to Strickland’s world of mystery. 

In any other hand, the film could have turned out to be a carbon copy of other psychodramas we’ve seen before, but Strickland manages to create something that feels deeply unsettling through both his authentic style and off-kilter exploration of mental illness. On that note, while it’s evident that the director’s focus is on exploring psychoanalysis for the sake of building tension, he still manages to touch on moral and ethical subjects throughout the story that could spark conversations surrounding race and medical negligence in America, and that only strengthens the film’s artistic integrity regardless of its scale or size.

The Final Diagnosis

Dual Mania might feel out of touch with reality – but just by a hairs length, and even if Strickland’s picture of shattered psychosis may seem like it’s sometimes struggling to reach its own ambitions, it’s in the more personal aspects of his story that it manages to keep itself from falling off the deep end. If there’s one thing to take away from this gnarly little thriller, it’s that we should never underestimate the power of independent cinema, because more often than not, it can expose us to fascinating new perspectives that have not yet been tarnished by the big bad movie biz. Like diamonds in the rough, films like these are far too sparse and are just waiting to be discovered. 

Have you seen Dual Mania yet? If so, what were your thoughts? And do you think it holds up as a solid thriller for modern audiences? Leave your comments in the section below.

Dual Mania was released in the USA on the 3rd of July, 2021. For all other release dates, please click here.

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