The Cleanse Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Cleanse Blu-ray Movie Review

"Okay everybody... who's ready to change their lives today?"

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown June 21, 2024

Striking a finely tuned balance between horror and comedy has been a challenge since the two genres became fast friends in the '70s and '80s. Countless movies have lived and died on that balance, and few have found, much less fully achieved, a perfect equilibrium. I'm not about to declare The Cleanse perfect, mind you, but its offbeat sensibilities, oddball characters and deceptively sharp screenplay somehow manage to juggle stomach-turning body horror, paranoid thriller tropes and not-so-subtle laughs with an ease that make it a breeze to watch and enjoy. Johnny Galecki and a strong supporting cast (including Oliver Platt and Anjelica Huston) only up the ridiculousness -- hilariously played with absolute conviction and sincerity -- to deliver an unexpectedly fun bit of horror comedy. It's not a film for everyone. Is any movie? But for those who sit back and willingly allow The Cleanse to cast its bizarro indie spell over them, an entertaining little off-the-grid horror-comedy awaits.

"The cleanse you drank has expelled all the negativity in your life..."

The Big Bang Theory's Johnny Galecki plays a down-on-his-luck man named Paul Berger whose life suddenly takes a series of wrong turns. Coldly dumped by his fiancée, unceremoniously fired from his job, and left utterly heartbroken and hopeless, Paul decides to get away for a while and lick his wounds. His destination? The privacy of a forest retreat clinic boasting a special "cleanse" program that promises to leave people refreshed and renewed. But Paul soon discovers not all is as it seems. Unexpected side effects begin to plague those participating in the cleanse as more than toxins are released from their bodies. Written and directed by Bobby Miller (at the time making his feature film debut), The Cleanse also stars a surprisingly strong supporting cast that includes Anna Friel, Kyle Gallner, Kevin J. O’Connor, Diana Bang, Oliver Platt and Anjelica Huston.

From the moment Paul attended a "Let's Get Pure" self-help seminar, I found myself strangely entranced by everything from the film's rhythm, pacing, dialogue, cinematography, music... you name it. It's hard to describe, but sometimes you can just feel all the necessary elements of a genre pic falling neatly into place. By the time Paul joins his fellow retreaters in the forest, and long before we meet Platt's creepy Ken Roberts or Huston's ice-faced Lily in person, we're subjected to a string of happenings -- sometimes off-putting, sometimes weird, sometimes downright disgusting -- as the "cleanse" reveals itself to be anything but what its creators purport it to be. I'd actually recommend avoiding as many details as possible. Perhaps even stop here and don't even look at screenshots further down the page. The less you know (I hadn't even watched a trailer), the more surprises will be in store, and The Cleanse has some great low-key surprises to dole out.

You'll probably even find yourself wondering what the hell The Cleanse is even about. What's it trying to say? Where's it going with all this? What in God's name is in the goo everyone seems so eager to gulp down? Answers are never a priority, but it will all make sense by film's end, and might just leave you with the sneaking suspicion that, if watched multiple times, Miller's debut may be satirizing far more than it first might appear. There's an intelligence pulsing beneath the uber-serious silliness and the paranoid ruminations, but it's never pretentious, earning its keep with a subtlety and cleverness that suggests Miller is a filmmaker to follow (if his career ever takes off). The story and script are quite ambitious, despite the initial simplicity of things, and watching two would-be "parents" struggle to decide what to do with the insane offspring in their care will only hint at the many, many topics The Cleanse is actually exploring. I'd even go so far as to say you could watch the film in half a dozen different ways and it would speak to and comment on completely different subjects each time. It's the type of horror-comedy that becomes a literal cult classic; "cult" because it will certainly appeal to a small group of devotees while simultaneously turning off whomever shrugs their shoulders and walks away shaking their heads, unsure of what the point was.

The Cleanse Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

You might not think The Cleanse offers much to look at, with its abundance of desaturated earthy hues, colorless office spaces and seminars, and muddy palette, but beneath all that is a perfectly proficient 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer that's not only faithful to the film's original photography, but delivers in every way. Colors are spot on, despite a distinct lack of primary punch, and black levels and contrast are dialed in nicely. Skintones are exceedingly lifelike and delineation is excellent, without any pesky crush obscuring what lies in the shadows. Detail is striking too, with clean, naturally sharp edges and crisply resolved fine textures. Clothing, wood grains and, um, creature fleshiness looks great, and really highlights the quality of the practical fx and body oddities. A slight bit of noise slithers into a few darker shots, but otherwise there aren't any anomalies to point to; no banding, blocking or the like. All in all, the video presentation is a humble and effortless standout.

The Cleanse Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sony's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is solid too, although the film is more subdued in its sonic pursuits. Dialogue is clear and intelligible, with little in the way of prioritization issues, and the score doesn't have to play tug of war with the rest of the soundscape. LFE output is decent, though underused until the final moments of the film. And the rear speakers remain active but less than fully engaging, offering light ambience rather than more assertive soundfield movement. Still, directional effects never disappoint, and the film sounds as good as it presumably could.

The Cleanse Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries - Two solid commentary tracks are included: the first with writer/director Bobby Miller and a second track with Miller and actors Johnny Galecki and Kyle Gallner.

• Making The Cleanse (HD, 15 minutes) - The cast and filmmakers chat freely about the production, working with Miller, the characters, the deeper meanings behind the cult-y retreat, and more.

• Deleted Scenes (HD, 15 minutes) - A healthy collection of ten cut scenes.

• Short Films (HD, 22 minutes) - Two of Miller's short films, End Times and Tub, are included.

• Proof of Concept Teaser (HD, 3 minutes)

• Creature Tests (HD, 3 minutes)

• Kyle Gallner Audition Tape (SD, 3 minutes)

• Creature Gallery (HD/SD, 4 minutes)

• Animatics (HD, 8 minutes)

• Trailer (HD, 2 minutes)

The Cleanse Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Cleanse is more fun if you know as little as possible going in, but even with full knowledge of the plot, my second time was even better than my first. My advice? If the movie doesn't click the first time around, give it another try. There's far more pulsing beneath the surface of this one that it might seem. Thankfully, Sony makes it that much easier to dive in with an excellent video presentation, a solid DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, and a healthy selection of extras. Recommended.