There is something eerily uncomfortable about watching movies that represent oneself so incredibly well, and with that Hypochondriac was both a terrible decision for me to watch, and one that deeply unsettled me and brought forth my own fears and hypochondria further into the light. The movie certainly is not for the faint of heart, but absolutely paints a realistic and terrifying portrait of something that can be experienced, at least to an extent that is shown throughout Addison Heimann’s film.
The film focuses on the journey of Will played masterfully by Zach Villa as he is now in adulthood, after the first five or so minutes focus on his childhood, and he’s relatively coping well considering everything he’s been through. He is packing some serious childhood trauma, including that of his mother trying to kill him, and dealing with her bipolar state, it weighs on him. However, he seems to have managed to tuck all this away and live a relatively happy life, he has a boyfriend, he loves his job, everything is going great for Will that is until his mother re-enters his life and everything starts to unwind and his childhood trauma starts to rear its ugly head back into Will’s life as he tries to push it back down and regain the success he’s made for himself.
What makes Hypochondriac work so well, is how absolutely accurate it paints the debilitation of hypochondria, and the madness people find themselves delving into. There is really no way to escape the mindset people then find themselves in and it’s a continuous downward spiral that truly is crippling. Zach Villa does an excellent job of capturing this feeling and as he continues to delve into the world of his own mental health and the ideology of his experiences and what he has to go through to get back to where he was in control of everything, is truly accurate. There is so much to Hypochondriac that can be triggering to its audience, but its delicate balance of emotionally raw deliverance in character and plot brings to life this truly jolting movie that will surely stick with you and haunt you long after the film ends.
