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Distorted (2018)

Name: Distorted
Genre: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Released: 2018-06-22
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 4.9
Cast: Christina Ricci, John Cusack, Brendan Fletcher, Nicole Anthony, Maja Milkovich

Distorted (2018), directed by Rob W. King, starring Christina Ricci and John Cusack.

14 06/22/2018 BR Action, Mystery and Thriller 1h 30m

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Don't fear the lies. Fear the truth.

Synopsis

A married couple suspect that the 'smart apartments' in their high tech residence are being used by its owner for sinister reasons.

Mark DobrescuCinematography
Rob W. KingDirector
Jackie DzubaEditing
Danielle MastersProducer

Paranoia Tapes

The other films in the franchise, in release order. 12 films — TMDb has not added this title to the collection yet.

About the film

Distorted is a 2018 Canadian thriller film starring Christina Ricci and John Cusack.

Read the full article (5k characters)

Distorted is a 2018 Canadian thriller film starring Christina Ricci and John Cusack.

Plot

Russel Curran (Brendan Fletcher) is a successful businessman living in Portland, Oregon. His 32-year-old wife Lauren (Christina Ricci) has bipolar disorder after a home invasion left her injured and her baby drowned in the bathtub.

Craving a safe home, Russel and Lauren decide to move into a luxurious high-tech smart apartment an hour away from Portland. On one of their first evenings, they attend a cocktail party and meet the other residents who are all very wealthy. One of them is Phillip Starks (Vicellous Reon Shannon), an heir of a successful marketing company focussing on consumer psychology.

Lauren notices strange noises coming from the apartment's sound system and occasionally sees the TV flashing up strange pictures and words. She tries to speak to Russel, but he blames her bipolar disorder and accuses her of paranoia. Later, Russel secretly installs CCTV cameras to observe Lauren's behavior.

Through research on the internet, Lauren gets in touch with Vernon Sarsfield (John Cusack), a hacker and journalist. Vernon affirms to Lauren that she is not paranoid and that she needs to help him to prove that the residents of her home are being used as involuntary experimental subjects for subliminal stimuli by the building's owners. Vernon believes Lauren is the only one to notice the subliminal messaging because of her bipolar disorder.

One day, Lauren meets a resident that she perceives as particularly awkward. He tells Lauren that he "is not one of them" and soon after commits suicide by jumping off the roof of the building. As the strange events intensify, Vernon advises Lauren to leave since he has been tracked and thus can not help her anymore.

Lauren becomes increasingly suspicious of Russel who threatens to send her to a psychiatric hospital. As Lauren figures that all residents have continuously been scratching their necks, thus must have been exposed to some substance or implant, she tries to flee, but the building's security manager and groundskeeper apprehend her in the garage and forcefully subdue her with an injection in the neck.

As Lauren wakes up, she is restrained and exposed to another subliminal stimuli on the TV, realizing that the goal of the stimuli is for her to murder a three-year-old child residing in another apartment. Vernon suddenly appears and frees Lauren. He gives her a gun and allows her to flee by holding up the pursuers, but is murdered.

Lauren does as the stimuli suggested by kidnapping the child. Russel tries to win back her trust by saying he has proof of the subliminal stimuli through the CCTV he has installed, but Lauren rebuffs him. Using the images implanted into her head earlier, she drives the child to an abandoned shack. Later, she is then seen driving to an abandoned luxurious hotel with a blood-stained bag where she is greeted by Phillip Stark, and the building's employees and some of its residents who were disguised employees of Stark. Stark interviews Lauren on how she feels about having killed the child. As Lauren replies that she feels well since she does as expected from her, Stark is satisfied and thanks Lauren for her contribution to the future of warfare.

However, as Stark opens the bag, it is only filled with apples. A flashback reveals that Lauren and Russel had only faked the child's death. Stark attacks Lauren, but Russel rushes to her aid and shoots him dead. The police arrive and surround the premises.

In the closing scene, a pregnant Lauren and Russel have moved into a new home. As they hug, Lauren suspiciously eyes the parent unit Russel had been trying to install.

Cast

Christina Ricci as Lauren Curran

John Cusack as Vernon Sarsfield

Brendan Fletcher as Russel Curran

Vicellous Reon Shannon as Phillip Starks

Nicole Anthony as Margo Ingram

Oliver Rice as Lance Geyer

Production

Production for the film started in Kelowna and Vernon, British Columbia in May 2017. The film is produced by Kevin DeWalt, CEO of Minds Eye Entertainment.

Release

Minds Eye Entertainment co-produced and released the film in North America territories, while Voltage Pictures handled international rights for the film.

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 18% based on 11 reviews with an average rating of 4.2/10.

References

External links

Distorted (archived website)

Distorted at Voltage Pictures

Distorted at IMDb

Distorted on YouTube

Text from Distorted (film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distorted_(film)

Trivia

It premiered on June 22, 2018, a Friday.
It runs 1h30 — a typical feature length.
As of September 20, 2026, it is available in Brazil by subscription on Adrenalina Pura Amazon channel, Adrenalina Pura Apple TV channel.
This film's quiz has 15 questions — enough to play more than once without repeats.

Production

StudiosBridgegate Pictures, Minds Eye Entertainment, Voltage Pictures
CountriesCanada
LanguagesEnglish
StatusReleased

More about this film

Filming locations

Kelowna
Vernon

Set in

Portland

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Crew

Mark Dobrescu Cinematography
Rob W. King Director
Jackie Dzuba Editing
Danielle Masters Producer
Kevin DeWalt Producer
Matt Jantzen Original music
Todd Bryanton Original music
Arne Olsen Screenplay

Questions about this film

What is Distorted about?

Distorted: A married couple suspect that the 'smart apartments' in their high tech residence are being used by its owner for sinister reasons.

Who directed Distorted?

Distorted was directed by Rob W. King in 2018.

Who stars in Distorted?

The cast of Distorted includes Christina Ricci, John Cusack, Brendan Fletcher, Nicole Anthony and Maja Milkovich.

How long is Distorted?

Distorted runs for 90 minutes, or 1h30.

Where can I watch Distorted?

Distorted is available on Adrenalina Pura Amazon channel, Adrenalina Pura Apple TV channel and Apple TV Store. Availability changes often: the list on this page is the most recent we received.

What is the correct order of the Paranoia Tapes films?

The Paranoia Tapes franchise has 12 films in the catalogue. In release order: Paranoia Tapes; Paranoia Tapes 2: Press Play; Paranoia Tapes 3: Siren; Paranoia Tapes 4: Kennel House; Paranoia Tapes 5: Rewind; Paranoia Tapes 6: 06:06:06; Paranoia Tapes 7: Felts Field; Paranoia Tapes 8: DVD+.