‘Trauma Therapy: Psychosis’ Review #2
Stars: Tom Sizemore, Hannah New, Vince Lozano, Tom Malloy, David Josh Lawrence, Jamie Scott Gordon, Gordon Holliday, Megan Tremethick | Written by Tom Malloy, David Josh Lawrence | Directed by Gary Barth
A sequel to the 2019 Trauma Therapy, which I remember as not too bad of a film with a lofty concept but sadly a sloppy execution leaving viewers with a middling taste. A sequel that I don’t think anyone was asking for but here we find ourselves. A sequel marred in a touch of controversy due to unhappy directors, overbearing producers, writers, actors and the untimely demise of the late Tom Sizemore.
Apparently, there are two cuts of this movie out in the wilderness. One with and one without Tom Sizemore and to be honest I can’t see there would be much of a difference considering the insignificance of his screen time. But… it is always nice to see the man on screen.
The movie takes place sometime after the first movie and the Vance Institute has relocated to the UK (complete with some gnarly Scottish accents) in search of a new crop of corruptible souls. Back from the original, we have Tobin (Tom Malloy) the self-help guru going to put the new recruits through their paces. John (David Josh Lawrence) is back as his henchman, something that is kind of wasted as they try to have him infiltrate the group thinking we as viewers would forget they met at the start of the movie. We meet Lily, Nicole, Jesse, Frank and Daniel as they look to improve their lives and become their best selves.
Tobin looks to achieve this through a series of gruelling and somewhat sickening tasks that usually come with a slight chance of death. But hey you know what they say about making an omelette. Obviously, the new gang begin to suspect something is not quite right but is it too late for them?
Cast-wise I had no real complaints to speak of with stand-out performances from Malloy, although I could have done with him dialling it up a tad more. Megan Tremethick is another standout as Nicole, the only issue being that she doesn’t get enough screen time.
Sadly most of the good work done in the performances comes a little undone in some piss-poor dialogue and super janky editing. I read one article that mentioned scenes being moved around to accommodate more Sizemore. I am not sure how much this would affect the end product but I do suspect the John character would maybe have made more sense. What I will say on the Sizemore issue is that honestly his role makes zero difference to the movie and does feel like more of a “hey we got Sizemore in this flick” which is silly to me because unless you’re a die-hard fan you’re not picking up a movie because he is in it. Don’t get me wrong I’m a fan but I’m not seeking out everything he made.
Honestly looking at this movie as a stand-alone piece of work, I didn’t hate it. Is it perfect? Nah.. it’s barely above average but I was able to sit down and be entertained for an hour or two. What more could I ask for? I probably won’t ever watch it again and have no real interest in seeking out the other version, as this one has put me off, but this was worth a modicum of my time so…
** 2/5
Trauma Therapy: Psychosis in out now on demand and on digital.
