THE INFERNAL MACHINE

Guy Pearce stars as secluded writer Bruce Cogburn, who has a dark past. He released his one and only critically acclaimed novel entitled The Infernal Machine back in 1981; but a 17-year-old committed a mass shooting spree in Tennessee (similar to the one in Texas in 1966) and blamed the book as his inspiration (also similar to Mark David Chapman and Catcher in the Rye). Living in isolation in California without a TV, phone, and with a P.O. Box, Bruce begins to receive letters from a stranger, at first seeking assistance on their novel they are writing but then to the point of harassment as Cogburn begins to receive letters daily and once he closes his P.O. Box, at his residence. Confused how anyone is able to find him, Cogburn calls the telephone number left in the letters at first pleading with the writer to stop before growing impatient and threatening them with violence in order to make them stop. All of this leads to the dark past Cogburn has tried for the last 25 years to conceal. A devilish and delicious game of cat-and-mouse, the story quickly sucks the viewer into Cogburns paranoia as we are forced to follow along from his POV. The films holds up well with pacing and plot surprises but unfortunately, doesn't deliver on the finale (which is even alluded to by Cogburn himself when discussing writing a novel with his new pen pal). Outside of that, this is a great performance by Pearce and a movie that will need to be seeked out as it was only available via streaming but one in which I feels justify a viewing. 6.5/10