'Twisted' Review
- Connor Petrey
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
Release Date: 02/06/26 [Digital]
Genre: Horror. Thriller.
MPAA: Rated R.
Distributor: Republic Pictures.
The Verdict: A Maybe
Darren Lynn Bousman’s Twisted isn’t a Saw film, but it does share many similarities. It’s a story about revenge, innovation, grit, and determination. It even has a new “anti-hero” holding the knife. But it’s needless to say, John Kramer is still irreplaceable.
The story follows a con artist played by Lauren LaVera (Terrifier 3) who lists homes on the market that she doesn’t have any right in doing. Once the deal is done, she runs with the cash. This is all fine until she chooses the wrong mark and her world gets instantly turned upside down.
The man she’s wronged is a neurosurgeon played by Djimon Hounsou (Shazam!), who is dying to test out a new surgical procedure that manipulates the brain to remove deteriorating diseases like Alzheimer’s or Dementia. Problem is, these experiments on human life remain unethical - that is until this con-artist enters his life.
LaVera is fantastic, while not beating out her turn as Sienna Shaw anytime soon, her villainous turn makes it difficult to pick a side. Hounsou plays a man struggling with the idea of living without his wife, a surgeon that came up with the idea he so badly wanted to execute. His emotion is pure and powerful throughout the scenes as his eyes highlight the rage flickering within. His actions, similar to LaVera's, make it very difficult to root for one or the other’s downfall.
Director Darren Lynn Bousman has been behind the camera for some of the more iconic moments in the Saw franchise, having directed Saw II, III, and IV. He is also responsible for the wrong turn of Spiral: From the Book of Saw, which suffered for a lot of different reasons - but one of the most notable being its harsh editing. While not carrying over the same editor, this film’s biggest flaw is in its pacing and its decision to add a lot of unnecessary flair in the editing process to “keep things interesting”.
Bousman knows how to showcase gore and body horror in such a way that it’s involuntary to tense up ever so slightly. The unfortunate thing about it is that there’s just not enough of it to suffice for the hour of buildup for a rushed payoff. He didn’t write the script, but the film presented has a significant resemblance to the dark grit of the Saw franchise and the editing theatrics are on par as well.
If the film would remove the false intensity of the police investigation and focus more on the gruesome reality that our lead is living in. Everyone is a terrible person and while the concept is sound, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The biggest issue beyond its pacing is the lack of style, with a gritty realism similar to that of the first few Saw films but it also lacks character, which is especially a shame when the closing chapter of the film looks identical to the marvelous coloring of the trailers, coated in aesthetically pleasing neon.
It’s possibly the fact that I grew up with films like Hostel, Saw, High Tension and Cabin Fever has altered my sensibilities, but for a film titled Twisted, this felt incredibly tame. Yes, there are instances of gore, fluids and exposed craniums - but it all comes down to its execution. So while the concept may leave a lot to be desired, the performances are truly worth the price of admission and for such a short runtime it’s an easily accessible watch for horror fans, just keep your expectations in check.
