"Regression" Movie Review

Before I watched this film, I didn't know anything about it other than a detective was trying to solve an assault case and that Emma Watson was in it. That's literally all I knew. Much to my surprise, when I started it, the opening credits talks about how there was an outbreak of panic over Satanic cults meeting all over the country at an exceeding rate and it was based on actual events.
Usually, when it comes to a mild horror such as this, I speculate over whether the true events were really true or if that was just used to market the film. I haven't done extensive research but I haven't been able to find anything about these people, which makes me think they created characters in order to discuss events that may or may not have happened.
So now, about the film itself. The start of the film was strong. We established that there was something serious that happened to this girl and that her father was part of it. The cops bring in a psychologist who uses Regression therapy which triggers disturbing memories, causing the dad to believe he did it, but he still can't actually remember doing it.
The film progresses beautifully, building tension and causing creepy discomfort. There were times that caused my skin to crawl, there were times that I was talking to the TV, and then there were times that I was completely creeped out.
But then, somewhere around the midpoint, the tone shifted from horror to dark drama. From there, the film quickly lost steam. It couldn't decide which direction it wanted to go and, for a horror/thriller, that's dangerous. You always want your audience to be riveted and wondering what's going to happen next. Sadly, the movie went from unpredictable to predictable. When the big reveal happened, I wasn't surprised. I was actually quite disappointed. The ending seemed more like a cop out because the writers had no real clue how to end it. If this really is based on actual events, it must have been the most disappointing case of all time.
In conclusion, the movie is watchable. Just don't get your hopes too high. Emma Watson and Ethan Hawke both give splendid performances and, in a better movie, maybe their performances will be Oscar worthy. The writers, however, are Razzie worthy.