Nocebo Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Nocebo Blu-ray Movie Review

Woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 24, 2023

Lorcan Finnegan's Nocebo is a rather intriguing little psychological thriller; one whose setup and slow burn takes a disappointing detour in the home stretch, but the rest is so well put together that it's tough to ignore. At the forefront is poor Christine (Eva Green), an English children's fashion designer who receives terrible news one afternoon via a mysterious phone call. Devastated by the undisclosed problem, she's approached by a stray dog carrying ticks and is bitten on the back of her neck. Eight months later, Christine is still recovering from the resulting illness and is on an assortment of medications. Her hands occasionally tremble, anxiety levels increase and, during a sales pitch at work, she suffers a full-on nervous breakdown, a waking version of the nightmares that already plague her.

Christine is clearly at wit's end, but help arrives one morning in the form of new caregiver Diana (Chai Fonacier) who, strangely enough, she doesn't remember hiring. Nor does Christine's skeptical husband Felix (Mark Strong), or their young daughter Roberta AKA "Bobs" (Billie Gadsdon), who's immediately resentful of the new visitor. Diana's kindness and patience are unshakable, however: she dutifully goes about her business in the background, cleaning and doing other chores -- even impressing the family with her Filipino cooking. While Christine's condition doesn't improve, Diana seemly keenly able to address her discomfort and other issues via unconventional means, all the while showing vaguely disturbing behavior such as eavesdropping through air vents and just... you know, general creepiness.

This intrigue, fueled by clever use of hallucinations (?) to constantly keep viewers on their toes, is what drives the first half of Nocebo so effectively. It's characters are, for the most part, unlikable but they're still instantly recognizable, and the quartet of performances on display here are great from top to bottom. (Eva Green is particularly good as expected, as she does a fantastic job with her character's not-so-subtle descent into madness.) Yet some of the film's good graces go out the window in Nocebo's home stretch, as the film devolves into more of a revenge thriller that, while not a total left turn, feels both clichéd and kind of annoyingly heavy handed. This film has a rather strong anti-capitalist message at its core that, while certainly more original than not (at least within genre boundaries), doesn't feel like an organic part of the story. Yet again, it's well acted and deeply disturbing at sudden moments which will, if nothing else, keep newcomers guessing even if they don't ultimately accept the answers Nocebo partially provides.

And since any anti-capitalist film should be ordered directly from Amazon, RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray at least offers solid A/V support on their movie-only Blu-ray. Sadly, the lack of bonus features hurts this one: I'm not all that broken up about the lack of a few promo featurettes or a piece on the film's decent use of CGI, but a director's commentary or interview would've been great to help fence-sitting viewers (including yours truly) fill in more of the blanks.

For a similar "good, not great" take on Nocebo, please see Brian Orndorf's theatrical review.

Nocebo Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray edition of Nocebo offers a largely pleasing presentation of what's ultimately a pretty cold film, supporting its varied but largely natural palette with a nicely saturated and defined 1080p transfer. Fine details are evident, textures are somewhat smoothed-over but not waxy, and shadow detail remains respectably good even during the film's occasional nighttime freak-outs. Black levels often run satisfyingly deep yet are sometimes prone to mild posterization, while harsh gradients likewise exhibit a bit of banding. Otherwise it's a fairly well-compressed disc -- not exactly a challenge for 96 total minutes of content, even on a single layer. And if nothing else, it's likely a few steps above the Shudder streaming version, which will make this a decent little upgrade for established fans.

Nocebo Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise an improvement over the streaming version is this Blu-ray's pleasing DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix, which doesn't travel through new sonic territory for the genre yet nonetheless impresses most of the way. Nocebo starts off quietly enough but soon kicks into much more atmospheric mode during Christine's unfortunate "incident", a pattern that continues with this stop-and-start thriller as our hapless central character spirals deeper and deeper into madness. Jose Buencamino's original score complements the film nicely, providing ample sonic support but only overpowering the dialogue or background effects for stylistic reasons. As expected for a recent film -- even one as modestly-budgeted as Nocebo -- it's a clean and trouble-free presentation that wrings an awful lot of juice from limited ingredients.

Optional English (SDH) and Spanish subtitles are included during the main feature.

Nocebo Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with rather bland and uninspired cover artwork; a matching slipcover and promotional insert are also included. Sadly, though, we get absolutely no bonus features to speak of on this disc -- not even the film's terrific theatrical trailer, which can be found right here if you're interested.

Nocebo Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Lorcan Finnegan's Nocebo is only the director's third feature-length film -- his last effort being the fairly solid science fiction thriller Vivarium -- and while this reaches similar modest heights, it's again at least nothing if not interesting. Though only intermittently effective as a psychological thriller, and one that kind of fizzles out in the home stretch, Nocebo features more than a few startlingly original story beats, plenty of genuine creep-out moments, and a handful of outstanding performances that make it tough to ignore. RLJ Entertainment's Blu-ray features solid A/V merits but the lack of extras limits my recommendation to established fans only; newcomers should stream it first, if possible.