THE CURE Review

I am firmly in the time of year where it's getting easier and easier to find movies on streaming that came out in the current calendar year and will add to my new release count when I watch them. It's the best. For the first few months, January though May or so, it's difficult to find many new releases on streaming, but after that, it becomes something of a bonanza! And I love it.

I always get through April, look at the number of new release films I have watched on the year, and start fretting that I am way off pace. But I needn't. By the mid-summer, the streaming ship has righted itself and everything is good again.

So this week when I was perusing Amazon Prime for something to watch, I was overjoyed that it only took me a few minutes to come across The Cure, a 2026 thriller starring David Dastmalchian. I have been a fan of his work over the last few years (The Suicide Squad and Late Night With The Devil being two high points in particular), so it was a simple decision to give it a go.

The Cure is the story of Ally, a sixteen year old girl suffering from lupus (hey, my cat has that!), but persevering under the watchful eyes of her incredibly wealthy parents. Due to the seriousness of her condition, Ally is housebound. It seems like she has everything a teen could want--a pool, an extravagant home, all the newest devices--but what she truly desires are friends and a normal life.

During a party hosted by her parents, she uses the security cameras to notice there are teenagers partying on the beach at the edge of the property. She sneaks out of the house to join them and quickly befriends the rebellious Brooke.

Ally's parents initially frown on this friendship, but they soon realize it may be the sense of normalcy that she needs. As Brooke and Ally grow closer, Brooke begins to suspect that not all in her new friend's household is as it seems...

TWO UPS AND TWO DOWNS

+ The central cast all do a wonderful job. I watched this because it was a new movie--so I could add to my 2026 new release total--and because I had faith in David Dastmalchian to do solid work... but everyone immediately around him is pretty superb, as well. He is obviously great here, as he is playing a really subdued character, the likes of which we don't always see from him. But it was nice of the movie to surround him with equally talented performers.

Samantha Cochran is the lead here as Ally, and she is strong and potent and reliable enough to carry her character from scene to scene and moment to moment. She makes the picture work, as you genuinely want to see her succeed. She feels like a real teenager with a real condition. She respects and loves her parents, but she desperately wants to test her boundaries and make more out of life than she is given. She could easily come off as either unlikable or too pitiable, but Cochran finds the balance there.

+ The story takes a fairly wild turn in the third act, and I honestly took a while to figure out if it was an Up or a Down. On the one hand, it's kind of whacky and gets to be a bit absurd, but on the other hand, the film doesn't lean into it and let everything feel TOO crazy. Still, I'll call it an Up because I didn't entirely see everything coming, and I liked the commitment to something far afield from what the first two acts had to offer. 

For a while, this is a basic and realistic flick, but then it goes... almost lite science fiction, I guess I'd say? It's a fun juxtaposition of genres that doesn't feel out of place or unearned. It works well enough, but, like I said, I wish the movie had gone even further with it.

- Some of the secondary and tertiary actors in this one do a surprisingly poor job. Like Acting 101 level poor jobs. Their dialogue is stunted at worst, and at best, they just don't come across as entirely believable or realistic. It's some take-you-out-of-the-movie level stuff, and I wish they had surrounded the core cast with better support. There is one bit of dialogue between a nurse or orderly and a doctor that is especially painful. It could not possibly have been the best take.

- The Cure is slow moving for most of its runtime, and you kind of want it to get to the point more quickly than it does. You get the idea from early on that there is a lot of deception and manipulation going on, but the film spends too much time building on that and establishing what you already know rather than giving you what you want in terms of answers or results of the plot. I wish it had gotten to the third act reveal sooner and gone a little zanier. 

If you are going to change genres in the third act, you could afford to change moods, too. I get the maybe The Cure did not want to whiplash some viewers--and the established mood continues working well enough--but it feels like they hit for a double when swinging for the fences was an option.

OVERALL

The Cure is a watch propped up by some really strong acting performances and a story that works well enough because the stars are committed to it. Cochran in particular comes across as someone to keep an eye on going forward. It's nothing earth-shattering, but it's definitely a solid flick that earns its runtime.

🍿 SCORE = 61/100