CIFF 2022 | ‘Rounding’ review: Muddled and mediocre medical misfire
Alex Thompson’s disappointing second feature wastes a novel premise on substandard execution marred by indecision.
Namir Smallwood in “Rounding.” Photo courtesy of Runaway Train.
“Rounding,” the second feature film (and horror movie debut) from Chicago’s own Alex Thompson, begins by defining the Ancient Greek word “enkoimesis” — the practice of patients being visited in dreams by demigod-physicians descended from the god Apollo. With a beginning as punchy as that, one might expect “Rounding” to be chock-full of delirious visions and occult twists; a new “Hereditary” for medical students. Sadly, however, apart from a piecemeal delivery on the former factor, this overstuffed yet undercooked thriller falls short on almost every front.
“Rounding” follows James (Namir Smallwood), a medical resident at an overcrowded urban hospital, who requests a transfer to a rural hospital after the traumatic death of a patient he had grown close to. His new life in and outside of this new, statelier institution is still no cakewalk, though. His roommate is a nuisance and a busybody, his supervisor seems to grow less enamoured with his work with each passing day, and a recurring patient at the hospital has begun exhibiting worrying symptoms that his colleagues seem hell-bent on gaslighting him into delivering the wrong treatment for.
The film’s biggest flaw is that Thompson didn’t seem to have quite decided on what he wanted it to be, before actually starting to make it. At times, it turns into a creature feature, in which mode the film arguably finds its strongest footing. Boasting great sound design and stellar character design clearly influenced by “The Ritual” (one of the best creature features of the last decade), “Rounding” is at its most terrifying when its mostly unseen monster stalks the hallways after James and reveals itself to electrifying effect. But at other times, “Rounding” becomes a staid, uninspired medical drama, and when it finally wraps up it does so as a psychological thriller that lacks both intrigue and logic. The promise of “enkoimesis” is never quite delivered on, and the metaphor of the monster is all but invalidated, leaving audiences divided on whether any of its many moving parts ultimately amounted to anything at all. Not even a Herculean effort from Namir Smallwood can overcome that many tonal changes, combined with a choppy script and a lack of critical development for James throughout the film.
Given that Thompson has proved his mettle before with the critically acclaimed “Saint Frances,” the disappointment that “Rounding” brings may simply be attributable to the curse of the artist’s sophomore slump. It certainly isn’t bad enough that he should be disavowed as a filmmaker. But it does indicate that nobody, not even independent directors who score festival circuit hits with their debut features, are immune to falling from grace.
