[Review] Hypochondriac

Note: This film features depictions of self-harm.

You often hear people talk about “living with mental illness.” What does that actually look like, though? For people like me, who live every day with a mental illness, it can be hard to explain. Luckily, there are artists like Addison Heimann, writer/director of Hypochondriac, who externalizes the internal in his newest film. Through expressionistic camerawork, clever characterization, an empathetic script, and an outstanding performance from star Zach Villa, Hypochondriac turns personal pain into enlightenment and hope. 

Opening text tells the viewer that Hypochondriac is “based on a real breakdown,” and that tension between vulnerability and humor continues throughout the film. Will (Villa) seems to have a “normal” life. We meet his adult self as he dances adorably to “Domino (Dirty Dancing in the Moonlight)” by Lady Aqua, in a montage that lets the viewer know right away how sweet and fun-loving Will is. He works at a high-end pottery shop with his friend Sasha (Yumarie Morales) and he has a doting boyfriend named Luke (Devon Graye). All is not as placid as it seems, though. When he was a teenager, his mother (Marlene Forte) had a psychotic episode and tried to kill him, and he has lived in fear both of her returning to his life and of inheriting the mental illness that led her to hurt so many people. 

Villa is a charming and endearing screen presence—it’s hard to picture anyone else playing the role because he is such a commanding yet gentle actor—making the moments where he suffers even harder to watch. He carries the story with a sense of humor, but there’s a world of pain and fear underneath as Will seeks help from doctor after doctor for the symptoms they tell him are just stress. It soon becomes apparent that it is not just stress, however, as Will begins hallucinating, accidentally injuring himself in the process. 

The camerawork, courtesy of cinematographer Dustin Supencheck, goes a long way in putting the viewer in Will’s headspace. Intriguing use of double exposure, where the two images linger over each other for far longer than expected, conveys the blending of fantasy and reality in Will’s mind: he’s not sure what’s real and what’s not, and that uncertainty bleeds into the film itself. The opening sequence where Will’s mom attacks him is terrifying, with its shaky handheld camera emphasizing the fear and chaos swirling around him. When Will returns home the next day, having survived the assault and gone to school like everything is okay, a dizzying shot of him going up the stairs to talk to his father (Chris Doubek) disorients the viewer, setting the stage for the unmoored feeling that Will struggles with throughout the film.

Hypochondriac also keeps viewers off balance with Mike Hugo’s editing, which is crisp and perfectly timed, eliciting laughs or screams at just the right moment. Similarly impressive are the film’s graphics. Modern films sometimes struggle to depict ubiquitous technology—texts, social media, etc.—in a way that is organic and pleasing to the eye, but Hypochondriac works these constants in Will’s life into the story better than any other film I’ve seen. Will gets dozens of calls and messages from his mother, who has tracked him down to ‌ warn him about some vaguely nefarious plot that Luke is supposedly in on, and the technological interruptions irritate him without ever irritating the viewer. It’s quite an achievement, and a welcome one in an age where having a smartphone glued to your hand is a fact of life.

That emphasis on realism may seem ironic in a film that features a man (Scott Butler), whom only Will can see, dressed in a wolf costume. But there’s just as much realism in his hallucinations as there is in any other aspect of the movie: Hypochondriac is grounded in a very real depiction of mental illness, and the shame and fear that go along with it. There’s a wistful hopefulness to it, though, as Will works through that shame and fear and learns to live with his wolf, with this external physical embodiment of a brain that wants to hurt him. Living with mental illness isn’t easy, but with love and support, it is possible. Hypochondriac is vibrant, creative, and vital proof of that.