‘Twisted’ Review: Lauren LaVera Carries an Uneven but Compelling Thriller
Twisted is a movie that wants to be invasive, confrontational, and uncomfortable to watch. And, honestly, at times, it succeeds. A complex mystery rooted in classical tropes, it plays out like a dark Roald Dahl tale or even a lost Twilight Zone premise staged by Herschell Gordon Lewis. Other times, it collapses under the weight of its own big ideas, buckling beneath the sloppiness of its under-resourced execution. While the end result is definitely uneven, it still frequently presents a compelling horror-thriller that earns attention through commitment and performance, with the all-star talent working in tandem to make it happen.
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, Twisted centers on a young woman (Lauren LaVera) pulled into a violent psychological tailspin rooted in control, manipulation, and bodily violation. In the movie, a pair of millennials make money by scamming renters, posing as brokers for luxury New York City apartments they do not own. The hustle falls apart when they cross paths with an apartment owner who has plans of his own. It’s hard out here for a millennial trying to make it out alive with a buck or two.
In terms of plot, Twisted moves quickly in the screenplay by Jonathon Bernstein and James Greer. Sometimes, this works to its detriment. Ideas and themes pile up fast, often before the film has time to fully explore them. Character motivations are hinted at more than explained, and big turns can arrive suddenly. The movie has momentum to spare, and there is a strong core idea here, but it gets buried under excess. It is a thoughtful script for the most part, but it may have benefited from another pass to cut the gristle. With Djimon Hounsou, LaVera, and Bousman in charge, the DTV energy of Twisted results in something made quickly, but with craft and a sense of precision.
That said, excess is both what defines Twisted and what holds it back. Bousman has never been a subtle filmmaker. He has turned maximalism and visceral horror into a tried-and-true art form. While Saw was invented by James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the franchise was arguably fortified by Bousman’s Saw II and Saw III. A friend of extreme cinema, this is a project in search of discomfort. It wants its audience to squirm. Scenes linger longer than expected, forcing you to sit with the nasty. Sometimes, it works. And I have a theory as to why. That reason is LaVera.
Twisted is, surprisingly, the studio debut of horror’s own modern scream queen of Terrifier 2 and Terrifier 3 infamy. Here, she throws herself into the role completely, both physically and emotionally, giving the film a much-needed emotional center. Even when the movie falters in some of its more heightened moments, LaVera stays real and grounded. She knows how to play extremity without losing you. Her pain feels real. Her anger feels lived-in. Twisted is at its strongest when it slows down and lets her carry a scene instead of the other way around. It is also further proof that the Terrifier franchise was not lightning in a bottle for the performer. She is a horror icon who is here to stay.
One of the film’s more meaningful strengths is how it handles its queerness. Twisted shows a clear discomfort with the male gaze, especially in how it frames bodies, vulnerability, and desire. Even at its harshest, the film avoids turning pain into spectacle or sexualizing trauma. That choice matters. In a genre that has often crossed that line without thinking twice, Twisted feels more aware of where its camera is pointing and why.
LaVera’s performance is key to all of that. Drawing from personal experience, she and Bousman create a queer character who feels real rather than half-baked or inserted. Her identity is not treated like a reveal or a statement. It simply exists, shaping how she reacts to danger and how she carries herself through the story. In a film so focused on control over the body, that authenticity adds a layer of emotional truth the movie badly needs.
Where Twisted ultimately fumbles the bag is in pulling all of this into a fully formed whole. The ideas are strong. The commitment feels real. The performances are there. What is missing is focus, time, and resources. The story feels desperate to explore big feelings like guilt, control, and internal damage, but it never quite sharpens those themes enough to make them hit as hard as they should.
Still, Twisted isn’t disposable like a pair of robin egg blue surgical gloves. It’s sometimes bold, occasionally abrasive, and even genuinely unsettling when at its best. As a late-night, DTV-style genre watch, it offers enough conviction and bite to be worth your time. As a fully cohesive horror-thriller, it does not quite get there. A solid but uneven effort that will likely divide fans.
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Twisted
Summary
‘Twisted’ hails from an all-star team of talent who elevate what could have been disposable gore schlock neatly above its pay grade.