Caged (2021) Film Review
At a first glance, it’s easy to accuse Aaron Fjellman of doing something risky with Caged. This is a film with almost no introduction or first act. It tells a story that has already begun and which viewers will maybe feel lost in.
But there’s an edge to Fjellman’s decision. This isn’t a story of a character’s past being decisive in his future. It’s about the confrontation between the present and terror. As confused as I felt in the beginning, I slowly began digesting his intention of setting some facts aside. The horrific events are generic and they should be.
Caged is a small film that shows a strange twist in our social nature. Solitary confinement is a reality that we must face. And if you think it’s not important, then I dare you to watch Caged.
You will change your mind.
A psychiatrist has been accused of murdering his wife in cold blood. He insists he’s innocent but his odds don’t look good. His legal team has abandoned his case, and his chances at an appeal get stricken when he’s put in solitary confinement with no access to his documents or even a pen and paper. Hope is not a choice.
His only option is to plead guilty and become part of an experiment. As time goes by, the enclosed space becomes too much. The lack of contact or communication is severely damaging, but he’s also being tortured by a female guard that thrives on denigrating him.
This isn’t spending life in prison. It’s a horrific method for turning human beings into monsters, maybe some that begin to question their sanity.
It may feel like a trick, but Aaron Fjellman has no intentions of doing a film that’s full of garments. There’s no side plot, and every subtle hint at tarnishing the plot is stricken from the record. This is the story of one man’s transformation from inmate to a mere spot on the system.
Flashbacks are even hazy and unnecessary. Sure, they finally confirm a truthful fact about the main character, but at this point, it’s not even relevant if this man did it or not. Caged is a film about the human condition being exposed to a monstrous method of punishment. One with no intention but to darken a lucid state.
Caged also suffers from its monotonous script as the film gets too repetitive at some point. Also some experiments with a supernatural element are present in the second act, and these don’t work at all.
Fjellman ends the film with some lines describing the solitary confinement issue in the United States. This englobes his whole purpose with the film, and as manipulative as it sounds, it’s also an effective way to tell a story.
With a great lead, and a great supporting actress, Caged is a character based psychological thriller that finds its path from the very beginning without wasting time. The performance by Edi Gathegi is very, very good. He never surpasses the limits of a precise script. The supportive cast does a great job at stating a necessarily ambiguous backdrop. It’s very rare to see Melora Hardin in a role like this one, but she does a fine job.
This isn’t a dramatic story about finding hope. It’s a journey into the dark side of a justice system that sometimes seems attached to the Dark Ages.
