Mindcage is currently the seventh most-watched film on Netflix worldwide. The movie became notable for two qualities. It contains Martin Lawrence’s first dramatic performance. It also steps well beyond the line of homage and into the realm of a terrible cover band attempting a classic. It’s needlessly complex, unhinged, and a complete mess. Director Mauro Borrelli likely wanted a genre throwback to the classic thriller, but he still achieved an impressive Netflix performance.
Mindcage is a Netflix Copycat Killer Thriller
Mindcage is a strange presence on Netflix. I suppose the title of this piece is slightly unfair. Mindcage is not exclusively a ripoff of Johnathan Demme’s widely beloved 1991 classic, The Silence of the Lambs. It’s also a ripoff of David Fincher’s Seven, with a touch of Gregory Hoblit’s Fallen and the slightest sprinkle of Jon Amiel’s Copycat. Someone once said that stealing from one audience is plagiarism while stealing from several is research. Mindcage managed to borrow from multiple classics while still feeling like theft. The plot follows Martin Lawrence and Melissa Roxburgh as detectives Jake and Mary. They sit down with John Malkovich’s incarcerated serial killer, The Artist, to request advice in their search for a copycat killer. Aside from the comedic kills that involve turning victims into statues, not much happens. It’s rather dull until the ludicrous third act brings black magic into the conversation.
Mindcage enjoyed a limited release through select theaters and VOD services in December 2022 before dropping on Netflix. Its box office take and at-home rental profits are nowhere to be found. Rotten Tomatoes, thankfully, provides some metrics of the film’s success. Critics slapped Mindcage with a withering 20% positive score. With only ten reviews, the average rating was only 3.3 out of 10. Audiences were substantially kinder to the experience. More than 250 amateurs granted Mindcage a 66% positive score with an average rating of 3.6 stars out of 5. This suggests that the film’s derivative elements bothered professionals more than the general viewer. I know I couldn’t watch a scene of Mindcage without imagining how Jodie Foster would have read Melissa Roxburgh’s lines, but some didn’t have that problem—perhaps the film’s fans long for Netflix to bring back 90s thrillers.
Mindcage reached Netflix’s top ten through the strength of Latin America. It’s currently #1 in Mexico and most Central and South American countries. The outlier is New Zealand, which also has Mindcage in its #1 spot. The renewed attention brought a small wave of new audience reviews to Rotten Tomatoes, most celebrating its virtues. Mindcage will never escape its connections to the older, better, more iconic films it borrowed from. Dozens of thrillers borrowed notes from Silence of the Lambs. It’s a landmark title in the genre that inspired genuine creativity in others. Parts of Mindcage feel intentional, but most of it feels like a failed attempt to stitch together better stories. Fans of Silence of the Lambs have already seen multiple superior versions. Newcomers would be happier with the 1991 classic. Mindcage tracked down an audience somehow, and that’s the biggest mystery of all.
