4.1/10 on IMDB. 47% on Rotten Tomatoes. A slew of negative comments and analyses.

The main complaint I see and hear is that nothing set up in the film really pays off, so a lot of the story beats just don't hit, especially the ending.

But this is what makes the film so outstanding to me. Beyond the normal horror tropes (fakeout jumpscare followed by actual jumpscare), I feel like the majority of movies at the moment follow the same beats and patterns, with every Chekhov's gun being fired and every single storyline being tied up in a neat little bow. And sure, for most films this is nice and satisfying.

But horror films are meant to shock and unnerve you, and the unanswered questions in Wounds have left a lingering dread in me way beyond most other films. The characters dismiss things, as we would in real life. Information never ends up being important, as it does in real life. And it's this blurring of surreal psychological horror and a realistic environment that gives the film an unsettling tone I haven't experienced since the first time I watched Alien.

The ending in particular feels like a genius take on an anti-climax, where everything has built up to something we weren't really expecting, and the grotesque spectacle of it fades to credits without a satisfying ending. With the hints to a broader conspiracy/operation with the people in the car, this seems like a tiny part of a much bigger story that we're seeing through the eyes of Will. If we saw it all through the person in the cars perspective, it would a dull summary tale, rather than the mystery we end up with.

I wish more films would be like Wounds, taking the risk of assuming that not all viewers are morons, and leaving some things to the horror of unsolved mystery, rather than spoonfeeding us the same stories over and over again.

Thank you! Ramble over! x

(Also, although I do like Armie Hammer's acting in this film, the allegations against him make me glad that we'll probably be seeing less of him in future films...)