User Reviews

The idea of medical trials going wrong is not new. Maniac, Tell me how I Die, Inhumane, Altered Perception are examples and all in the last ten years. But this was way more watchable. This was actually good.

The characters were believable. There was no identity politics. The script and plot kept bouncing along nicely. I felt invested in the characters and their motivations and traits. And lastly, their actions made logical sense.

I liked the 'warped' reality of their psychosis due to sleep deprivation. And the ending rounded things off quite nicely.

The production values and direction were good enough.

Overall, I would recommend checking this out.

A double-blind study is one in which neither the participants nor the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment. This procedure is utilized to prevent bias in research results...

The runtime is a crisp 1 hour and 30 minutes, which means it gets down to business fairly fast and stays on track...When your mind starts playing tricks on you, things can get scary fast...

With just a few solid character & an uncomfortable atmosphere this flick keeps us in a deep fried mode or so called mood with the writing playing a major role that's visible in every frame...

Overall this "Double Blind is an effective little thriller with will keep you on the edge of your seat, and keep your eyes open"

Note : Not intended for going a detailed review as one needs to experience this little hidden gem...

Why this low rating ? Has the pharmaceutical industry been triggered?! This is much better than i expected. A good scifi thriller with horror elements. There is some creativity here. It tried to be original and different even though i can't say it succeeded. But it's not a failure either. It's interesting, not a second wasted, it kept my attention until the ending. First half was better than the second, truth is, it promised more than it delivered. And it ended abruptly, like thay ran out of money, or they didn't know how to end it properly. But overall, it's enjoyable and the biggest quality here is acting : Always a pleasure to watch Millie Brady (THE LAST KINGDOM). The other actors were good but Brady carried the movie on her shoulders.

Not a MUST WATCH, but a solid scifi thriller for the fans of this genre.

This was a fairly decent movie with a concept that has been done before. It's an interesting story and as a financially struggling student I can put myself in this situation where you would sacrifice your body and take unknown drugs for a good amount of money.

The production value is decent, you can tell that it's not a big Hollywood production but it's also not a small indie movie either. The acting was fine but not outstanding and it was nice to see Pollyanna McIntosh as Dr. Burke even though I think her character was underutilized. As a seasoned horror fan I can say that this movie was overall pretty average and not really outstanding. There's not too much happening and it is ironic that I had to fight against falling asleep while watching a movie where the characters are not allowed to sleep either. Some people might enjoy this more than others but I think this is just an average flick and I will probably have forgotten about it in about a month. [5,3/10]

I have enjoyed the movie for the most part. Setup was interesting, the eerie atmosphere of the potential experiment going bad is present and is made well.

The story is nothing new. It is scary if you think about, how something similar might be happening in real life. Certainly, it's not going the way it is going in the movie though, because it would be really practically unreasonable and unrealistic, like "ha-ha, we are evil pharma, now we gonna make yall suffer cause that's what we do, ha-ha". Don't even get me started on that 'drug' and the death scenes (to me it seems highly implausible and overdramatic)... Yet even distant possibility of similar experiments is enough to consider and is something to be alerted about.

Millie Brady is beautiful, but the characters are quite superficial. Can't say it's a big problem for a type of movie this is. We do get a small insight in each of their lives, but it's not dramatic enough to make us care really, apart from the main heroine (where we get bit more, while still not really enough). Most character interactions and dialogues are no good.

Execution is on a 'okay' level I'd say. Obviously, looks like budget is limited (the whole movie takes place in like 3 rooms, and each of them is sterile, which can be explained by this being a locked experimental facility and/or also low movie budget and the lack of attention to detail at the same time), yet the existing scenes seem to be well made. In other words, camera operators and editors did their job well. Overall, the picture is a pleasant view.

The ending is controversial to me. It is logical story wise and obviously we all root for the main character, yet ideologically it's empty and it's also unrealistic, so its not satisfying to anyone who wants some answers or an unexpected turn, or something similar.

All that said, somehow, I did enjoy it for the most part still, I guess my expectations were low and I really liked the setup and the image, and Millie Brady of course. So I'd say my scoring here is generous.

So about half way threw I realised I've seen this film about 3 times. With the Russian sleep experiment and about 2 more amazon prime films about the same thing. Group of people doing an experiment. People die bla bla bla.

The acting is not great but I've seen worst I guess. The problem with these films is there very bland. The setting is by nature very boring. The people that do the study are very or below average no interesting characters. It never ever makes for a good or interesting film but I keep watching them because in theory it should make a exciting good horror film. Come on someone get it right.

I like horror movies that spark with new ideas about what the heck is happening. Of course it is not a 7 stars type production, but it is definitely a solid 6, however I decided to add 1 star for the freaking new topic and making a way inside the harsh reality of productions of horrors these days.

The movie was solid interesting and gave me small vibes of "cube" type mysteries. Definitely a must see for a horror movie fans, and believe me, it may be difficult to watch in the middle of the night - because of the topic - it is slightly more challenging than usual horror movies.

In any way - lift away - Double Blind -is a movie.

I recognize a cheaply produced movie when I see one.

The bad: NOT thrilling for 1 second. NOT for a measely tiny 1 second this movie could evoke some sort of thrill. Labeling it as horror is simply laughable and it sure as heck isnt meant as a parody, because this is actually suppose to be a serious "movie".

Not any good then? The leading actress aint terrible. The other actors are though. Dreadfully terrible and complete incapable of any good acting performances though. Sigh...

Why am I writing a review about this? Just in case anyone else would have hope (just for a second) that this might be worth a watch. Only suited for streaming. Never pay for this. Neverrrr!

At a tidy 90 minutes, this film is a great way to spend a night. I knew very little about it going in, and I was pleasantly surprised that it blended several genres pretty seamlessly. It wasn't a simple one note kitschy movie, although it certainly could have been with the general plot line.

It goes beyond the premise of the sleep trial to build characters and tensions between them in times of stress and dire need, even outside of somewhat silly premises as this one. The premise makes it a fun ride though, and kudos to the actors and director for taking it so seriously and making a thriller, suspense movie with mystery and horror thrown in.

At the time of this writing, the average is 5.5, which is much too low. It's a 7.5 for me, but rounding up to help the average.

If you enjoy the genre, you will enjoy this one.

Claire (Millie Brady) participates in a drug trial run by Dr. Burke (Pollyanna McIntosh). It is in a basement level of Back Wood Pharmaceuticals and the group has to stay there for five full days.

It is a simple small Irish horror. It has a small set and a small cast. That's all fine. The concept is simple. Again, that's fine. My biggest issue is that this made me sleepy. It is the theory of the yawn. When one person yawns, it infects the rest of the group and everybody starts yawning. The movie is basically talking about a yawn and daring the audience to follow suit. It makes me sleepy. Otherwise, this is fine.

Such a pitie because the title and the start of the story, let you feel some kind of great revelation ... but, unfortunately the story ended just as at the start let you perceive, without any some revelation.

Ok we have to admit that for technical points of views is a good movie, not b-movie, but some kind os suspence, ok but aside of this, you cannot enjoy a good end, so a good story.

When the atmosphere start to be strong and in a suspence mood, you want to have som revelation behind the title "double blind" that means something like ... "maybe at the end someone of them taked the placebo? ... maybe all of them take oit the placebo?" ... but matter of fatc nothing different from what you feel from the start.

"Double Blind" was a movie that I had neither heard about nor seen before, as I happened to stumble upon it by random chance here in 2024. The movie's synopsis sounded interesting enough to make me stop up and take notice, and thus opted to sit down and give the movie a fair chance.

Writer Darach McGarrigle put together an adequately entertaining storyline. I do like the way that the story was constructed and built up by director Ian Hunt-Duffy, because it was slowly getting more and more intense and interesting as the minutes went along. However, it isn't all fun and entertaining throughout the entire runtime. There are a couple of slumps throughout the narrative, where the movie slows down and becomes a bit tedious. And the movie seem to deflate about an hour into the foray.

Of the entire cast ensemble in "Double Blind", I was only familiar with actress Pollyanna McIntosh (playing Dr. Burke). And while she was only briefly in the movie, it was a good performance. I will say that the acting performances from the entire cast ensemble was good. And I always do enjoy watching new faces and talents on the screen. They had a good ensemble of talents on the cast list for this movie.

"Double Blind" is a watchable thriller, but hardly an outstanding viewing experience. And it is not a movie that warrants more than just a single viewing, as the script just doesn't have enough meat on it to support multiple viewings. Nor is it a movie that I would recommend for you to rush out and get to sit down and watch, as it just wasn't that much of an outstanding movie.

My rating of "Double Blind" lands on a four out of ten stars.

A desperate young woman joins a bunch of misfits in a top-secret drugs-trial, but the stakes get raised as the experiment expands.

First 25 minutes is excellent story-telling - pared-down scenes that give just enough information for the imagination to work on, so the pace sets off at a good clip. The altered-reality scenes are stylish and weird, elevating the intrigue and visual enjoyment. And the score is serious synth-doom (by Die Hexen) - well judged even though it never gets a rest. Performances are good, even if some of the characters are a bit sketchy.

Problems with the plot, though. It feels as if the complications are conjured up just to keep getting the characters into trouble, and I was never convinced by the overarching situation with all its implausibilites. One thing that puzzles me is that the title raises the expectation of the disguised placebo, which should have set up a Traitors v. Faithfuls game theory struggle. But that gets chucked out in a single line of dialogue, to be replaced with a ham-fisted evil corporation theme.

While the dynamic of placebo/nocebo was never explored (although that would be kinda high-falutin'), I would have settled for more emphasis on the weird, particularly with sleep deprivation opening up the boundary of reality, and then the plot somersaults wouldn't have mattered so much. The story could have had the chance to do that spooky trick in The Shining, where delusion steps over into reality, which would have been powerful with such desperate and hopeless characters. As it stands, this is more an under-powered zombie-free imitation of the classic Resident Evil.

Overall: Strong opening let down by shambolic motivations.

I watched it recently and didn't expect much from the movie, but it was fairly decent. I enjoyed most of it, of course there are some shortcomings, but in the end i was pleasantly surprise. Main actress is believable but some of the supporting cast could do better. You get invested nonetheless by the story, which tackle some interesting point about some current issue in our society. Visually there is some interesting scene. Good suspense, some jump scare as well. Definitely a small budget movie, but it's good to see one that is done with love. We need more small movie like that, instead of the plethora of uninspired blockbusters. I give it an 8 to bump up the score, otherwise i think it's like a good 7. A good watch for horror/ suspense movie fan.

* Kinda good acting: All actress and actors are good acting and copied the exjactly emotions of people's in deadly conditions of how they react. It is almost impossible to add negative criticism, however scientific horror movie should obviously focus on horror science * Good horror environment. Very good horror environment, an isolating environment that causing death any moments always make most people's feel fears, this also in my opinion it make me felt threatened * Good education: If someone's or some organization give you dozens thousands of dollars to ask for you to do experiment, say no.

Double Blind: Claire (Millie Brady) is broke so she volunteers as a guinea pig to test an experimental drug. Along with six others she will be incommunicado for five days, Most of those involved have taken part in many tests, it is literally a job for them. When things start to go wrong, the doctor ( Pollyanna McIntosh) supervising the test contacts the pharmaceutical company executives but is told to continue and up the dose. As things worsen, Claire and the others cannot sleep and wish to quit the trial but are offered 30,000 euros each to continue, Eventually a participant dies, it becomes clear that the test subjects must stay awake if they are to survive (Not A spoiler, this is flagged in all publicity for the film). The survivors are then sealed inside the laboratory for at least 24 hours as an emergency protocol kicks in.. Some particularly gruesome death scenes with the victims looking as if they are suffering from a Rabies/Ebola hybrid disease. Claire and the others start to become paranoid due to lack of sleep and begin to mistrust each other. An interesting examination of drug tests on marginalised people counterposed with those on mice showing how to Big Pharma both are equally disposable. This idea is taken to some frightening lengths. Pretty good dialogue, especially when the participants record their musings to their phones: one: about how much compensation he might get due to the trial going wrong; others more bleakly leaving last messages, This "found footage" helps to round some of the characters' back stories. A disturbing, violent tale of horror, existential despair and exploitation. Directed by Ian Hunt-Duffy, Written by Darach McGarrigle. 8/10.

Had low expectations but Great direction for a science fiction,thriller, with realism. If you enjoyed John carpenters " The Thing" with Kurt Russell you might love this cinematic masterpiece too. Don't have many 10/10 movies. Could I have given it a 9 or 8 possibly but it was really entertaining and enjoyable and wish Hollywood would make more movies like this today. Felt like the good ole days of cinema agin. Worth the watch! I think this movie is going to be like that song everyone said they heard first before it got really popular. I will definitely rewatch this, with someone, to see if they were as impressed as I was.