Emma Watson delves into the psycho thriller genre

CEBU, Philippines - Emma Watson, best known for her role in the highly successful film franchise “Harry Potter” playing Hermione Granger, expands her range as an actress as she stars in her most challenging role to date in the psychological thriller “Regression” along with Ethan Hawke and “Harry Potter” alumnus David Thewlis helmed by blockbuster horror director (“The Others”) and Academy Award Winner Alejandro Amenábar (“The Sea Inside”).

Set in Minnesota circa 1990, Watson’s character Angela Gray has found peace and safety in religion after losing her mother in a car accident.  During a seminar at Reverend Beaumont’s church, she breaks down and confesses that her father has abused her. With Detective Bruce Kenner’s (Hawke) help, she will overcome her isolation to become a key witness to solve the case.

Kenner further investigates the case of Angela, who accuses her father, John Gray (David Dencik), of an unspeakable crime. When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines (Thewlis) is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery. Using regressive therapy, Raines manages to release the memories that John’s brain has unconsciously repressed to uncover a massive case of satanic rituals.

Recently divorced, Kenner finds shelter in his work, where he can channel his obsessive personality into getting to the bottom of every case. His thoroughness and dedication routinely put him at odds with his colleagues and this time will plunge him into the darkest depths of human nature.

The movie is inspired by a wave of events that occurred in the United States during the 80s. The initial accusations that served as documentation for the writing of the screenplay arose within the context of growing political and religious power inside the United States, and later spread to the rest of the world with unequal intensity, even reaching the point where it was classified as a global conspiracy, and not only by the most sensationalistic sources.

“There was a series of real phenomenon that took place in which police investigation, psychological consulting and superstition converged in an attempt to piece together a strange and horrifying puzzle known as Satanic Ritual Abuse,” recalls Amenábar.

“The wave of accusations and confessions was overwhelming, destroying entire families, generating chaos and social panic and in several cases there were harsh criminal consequences. It has been very interesting to revisit those cases from back in the 80s and 90s with the perspective of someone from the 21st century.”

Adds Watson of her role: “She has grown up in a house with two addicts: her father is an alcoholic; so is her grandmother. Her mother died when she was very young in a car accident. You get the sense from looking at her house where she grew up, that there has been a huge level of neglect in Angela’s life and that neglect is really what comes to inform her choices and how she sees the world, how she feels about the world, what options she thinks are available to her.”

“This is probably one of the hardest roles that I’ve ever had to play,” continues Watson. “Angela is someone who’s had a very difficult life. She has such a complicated history.”

Amenábar had no doubts about who would make the perfect Angela.  “Emma Watson is an extremely intelligent woman, she’s very talented and she understood the project perfectly. When making a film like this, you need accomplices, people who understand what you’re trying to say. She had very clear ideas when she arrived to start shooting.”

“‘Regression’ is not a horror movie.  It’s about fear, about the fragility of the human mind, about how afraid we can get and how fear can keep us from thinking and seeing things clearly,” concludes Amenábar.

“Regression” is now showing in Philippine cinemas.