Synopsis
We all have our demons.
The story of a heartbroken man who attends a spiritual retreat, only to discover that the course releases more than everyday toxins and traumatic experiences.
The Cleanse
2016 Directed by Bobby Miller
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Alternative Titles
The Master Cleanse, טיהור סופי, Detox, La depuración, ניקוי רעלים, Tisztítókúra, 마스터 클렌즈, Valymas, Attīrīšanās, Oczyszczenie, De Dentro para Fora, Мастер Очистки, Майстер очищення, 净化大师
Releases by Date
Premiere
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USA
South by Southwest Film Festival
16 Jul 2016
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Canada
Fantasia International Film Festival
04 May 2018
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Russian Federation18+
Theatrical
04 May 2018
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USA
Releases by Country
Canada
16 Jul 2016
- Premiere Fantasia International Film Festival
Russian Federation
04 May 2018
- Premiere18+
USA
13 Mar 2016
- Premiere South by Southwest Film Festival
04 May 2018
- Theatrical
Popular reviews
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Five quickly disgorged takeaways from The Cleanse:
1. There is no denying that a smart conceit gurgles at the center of the film: a cleansing retreat where purged toxins transform into mini monsters. Very Cronenberg-lite, I could see the metaphysical dimensions of the characters’ reanimated barf being treated by a smarter screenplay with a ton of Freudian intrigue.
2. Despite churning with potential, the film itself is thin and underdeveloped. The main character is too smitten by the female lead, and the leader of the cleansing retreat, a brief cameo by Oliver Platt, is bland and unfulfilling. No real ideas pan out here, not even the love story. Everything just sort of evaporates or fizzes out.
3. The vomited gunk…
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Charming little indie film that legitimately feels half baked! It could have been so much more had the necessary time and effort been put into it to flesh out the storyline and characters with more detail!
Releasing a film before it has been fully developed is a disservice to both those involved in its creation and the audiences that are left shaking their heads thinking those involved shirked their duty thereby squandering the true potential of the film!
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Frightfest 2016 Film # 7
The feature debut from writer/director Bobby Miller is a hard film to pin down. Part body horror/monster movie, part awkward, black comedy and part soulful, mid-life crisis character study, it does a good job straddling a multitude of genres without settling in one place.
Johnny Galecki stars as Paul, recently heartbroken, he's depressed and in a general slump when he see's an advert on the TV for a spiritual retreat designed to cleanse harmful toxin's from your body. He decides this is exactly what he need's to get his life back on track so sign's up and is whisked off to a picturesque mountain retreat with a few other lost souls. Thing's turn strange when… -
CIFF #16
If you told me I needed a Johnny Galecki body horror film in my life I wouldn't have believed you, but I did and it's incredible.
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For anyone who's seen Nicole Kidman's spiritual cleansing retreat series Nine Perfect Strangers, then The Cleanse will sound awfully familiar. Except the latter would be closer to a little known film called Bad Milo with Ken Marino, rather than Kidman's very posh retreat.
I think it's interesting that Johnny Galecki used up some of his spare time during his Big Bang Theory stint to commit to this project. Not trying to say it's bad, it's just a rather odd choice. And I admire that. Don't give your fans more of the same, give them something out of left field.
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An interesting concept, with a narrative that finds some small moments of humor and emotion. Sadly it feels underwritten, and drably produced, not really fleshing out the characters or the plot quite enough to make the impact that it might have. The creature effects are pretty decent.
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I remember reading about this film back in 2016 and being excited about it. But time went by and I never heard anything else. Then I decide to join Hulu last week and find out its available there! After watching it though I'm curious if this movie went through a bunch of re edits or cuts. Feels like something was missing. Like 15 or 20 mins of film are sitting somewhere waiting to be discovered on the director's cut. It feels kinda slow for a 80 min film. All the characters were good but they weren't really developed. Johnny Galecki being the most interesting of the bunch. It's a shame cause the practical effects creatures were GREAT!!!
I gave The Cleanse 3 stars just for the top notch practical effects monsters
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The screaming scene towards the beginning was unnecessarily funny, but other than that I have no clue what I just watched but I think I liked it.
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Cleansing of the Expectant and the Expected. The first stretch is subtle Kafkanasia, the next is raw Henson camp, the last is creature feature therapeutics that are caught between the end and beginning and self-mind-immolation. You can’t simply exorcise all of your problems.
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Paul is selected for an exclusive self-help retreat aiming to cleanse him of past trauma. Things get pretty goofy, but in a good way. Best not to read too much about it, just let yourself be surprised by what comes out!