Today is the inaugural day of TIFF 2022, and several films are set to have their world premieres there before receiving wider distribution. One such film is Fixation, a new psychological thriller that borders on horror. Starring Maddie Hasson, who has already made a name for herself in the world of horror with performances in Malignant and We Summon The Darkness, Fixation follows a young woman named Dora who must complete a psychiatric evaluation before a murder trial. However, she is unable to recall what she did, and the tests she must undergo grow increasingly terrifying and personal until she can't trust her doctors or her own mind.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
Fixation also stars Genesis Rodriguez (whose role as Sloane Hargreeves was a big talking point in The Umbrella Academy season 3) and Stephen McHattie (who has previously worked in Zack Snyder projects such as Watchmen and 300) as the mysterious Dr. Melanie and Dr. Clark. The tests they construct for Dora are nothing short of a waking nightmare, albeit a very surreal one, and suggest that they desire something far more sinister than simply learning what happened to her brother Griffin (played by Atticus Mitchell, who was featured in Roland Emmerich's Stonewall).
Screen Rant is thrilled to present an exclusive clip from Fixation, in which Dora's so-called "treatment" can be witnessed firsthand. Dr. Melanie pulls out a taxidermied bird and begins asking about Griffin's violent behavior, which immediately sends the patient into a rage. Memories clearly flash before Dora's eyes, but they are too much for her to make sense of. Watch the full clip here:
Perhaps the most chilling part of the scene above is that Dora must apologize for being traumatized. Dr. Genesis requests an apology from Dora for her outburst, but she is the one probing into a dark past that will naturally bring out demons. Furthermore, she dangles the threat of returning to court (and thus being incarcerated) rather than continuing her "program," which begs the question of just how much worse prison could be than her current situation. Fixation's director, Mercedes Bryce Morgan, has described the film as reflecting on the act of gaslighting and on the dynamic between victim and abuser. In this short scene, Morgan has very clearly set things in motion for both Dora and the audience to question the reality of her situation and the motives of her captors.
Fixation was produced by 4AM Film Studios, a Canadian production company that prides itself on thought-provoking content. Having only been established in 2018, they are already well on their way to staking their claim on a corner of the independent cinema world. They first produced their own content, often written by co-founder Jordan Hayes and starring fellow co-founder Max Topplin. Then they began collaborating with other creatives on new projects, such as the six-part miniseries Something Undone, which won the Grand Jury Award for Episodic Pilot at SXSW 2022. Fixation is their first time working with Morgan, who is best known for her work directing powerful music videos for superstar DJ Marshmello. Watching her translate her talent into long-form cinema, while maintaining the surrealism allowed in a music video, is certainly a large part of the film's appeal.
Fixation will have its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival today, September 9.