''Jagged Mind'' is a 2023 American psychological horror

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

film directed by

Kelley Kali Kelley Kali is an American director, actor, writer, and producer. She is the creator of the 2021 indie film '' I'm Fine (Thanks for Asking)'', which has won several awards in the film festival circuit. Other directing credits include ''Lalo's Hou ...

and written by Allyson Morgan, based on her 2020 short film ''First Date''. It stars

Maisie Richardson-Sellers Maisie Richardson-Sellers is a British actress. She is known for her recurring role as Eva Sinclair on The CW series '' The Originals'', as well as her starring roles as King Saul of Israel's daughter Michal in the ABC Biblical series ''Of King ...

and

Shannon Woodward Shannon Woodward (born December 17, 1984) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Sabrina Collins on the FOX sitcom ''Raising Hope'' (2010–2014), Elsie Hughes on the HBO science-fiction thriller series ''Westworld'' (2016� ...

. The film premiered at the

American Black Film Festival The American Black Film Festival (originally called the Acalpulco Black Film Festival) is an independent film festival that focuses primarily on black film—works by Black members of the film industry. It is held to recognize achievements of film ...

on June 14, 2023, and was released in the United States on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

the following day. It is expected to air internationally on Disney+ via the

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content hub at a later date.

Premise

After Billie begins dating a mysterious woman named Alex, she suddenly becomes plagued by blackouts and strange visions that lead her to discover she's stuck in a series of time loops.

Cast

as Billie *

as Alex * Rosaline Elbay as Christine * Shein Mompremier as Rose * Kate Szekely as Kim * Jimmy Jean-Louis as Papa Juste * Casey Ford Alexander as Dr. Ortiz

Production

''Jagged Mind'' is based on writer Allyson Morgan's short film ''First Date'', that aired on season one of the

series ''Bite Size Halloween'' (2020). Produced by

20th Digital Studio 20th Digital Studio (also known onscreen as simply 20th Digital and formerly known as Fox Digital Studio from 2008 to 2013 and Zero Day Fox from 2013 to 2020) is an American web series and web films production and distribution company founded in ...

and Palabra Productions as a Hulu original film, it is directed by

from a screenplay by Morgan.

and

portray new girlfriends, Billie and Alex, respectively. Filming took place in the

Little Haiti Little Haiti (french: La Petite Haïti, ht, Ti Ayiti), is a neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is known historically as Lemon City, Little River and Edison. It is home to Haitian immigrant residents, as well as residents from the ...

neighborhood of Miami.

Jongnic Bontemps Jongnic Bontemps, also known as JB is an American composer and musician who has worked on over 50 projects in film, shorts, documentary films, TV series and video games. He is the music director for 2016 skateboarding-focused drama film '' The Lan ...

composed the film's score.

Release

''Jagged Mind'' premiered at the

on June 14, 2023. It was released in the United States on

the following day and is expected to air on Disney+ (via

) internationally at a later date.

Reception

The '' Los Angeles Times'' Noel Murray asserted "Even without its paranormal elements, ''Jagged Mind'' is a powerful portrait of the dissociation that occurs when a person tries to justify the misbehavior of someone they love." Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya of '' Autostraddle'' said, "While imperfect in some of its plotting, ''Jagged Mind'' is delicious in its thematic underpinnings, execution of horror (with evocative editing and directing on this front), and performances. Richardson-Sellers and Woodward (both queer IRL btw) are electric scene partners, and Woodward makes an extremely compelling villain. The script could have easily tilted into Lifetime original movie territory if not for the direction and these performances." Paul Lê from ''

Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news site/website specializing in information services that covered various horror medias, including: film, television, video games, comics, and music. ...

'' gave the film a rating of three out of five, saying, " hefilm is often compelling and tense, the two leads deliver strong and vulnerable performances, and the outcome is rewarding. Supporters of queer filmmaking will be enthused to see not only a new genre story where the central conflict has nothing to do with sexuality issues, and the characters are layered and imperfect." Randy Myers writing for '' The Mercury News'' gave the film a score of one and half out of five, saying "An under-realized screenplay fails all involved, particularly lead Maisie Richardson Sellers. She gives it her all as Billie, a queer woman with a rotten streak with women. She also blacks out and finds herself stuck in a ''

Groundhog Day Groundhog Day ( pdc, Grund'sau dåk, , , ; Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from ...

''-like loop. Therein lies the plot problem, ''Jagged Mind'' repeats its scenes too often, making it feel like this originated as a short film that got stretched into a feature."

References

External links

* * * * {{Hulu 2023 horror thriller films 2023 films 2023 LGBT-related films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films 2020s psychological horror films 20th Digital Studio films American horror thriller films American LGBT-related films American psychological horror films Features based on short films Films scored by Jongnic Bontemps Films shot in Miami Horror film remakes Hulu original films Lesbian-related films LGBT-related film remakes LGBT-related horror thriller films Remakes of American films Time loop films