I really liked it. Best movie I've seen in some time. I rented it because the customer reviews were mostly favorable and for once, I am not sorry.

Occasionally there are movies like this one that have mostly unknown casts and crew and they do a better job at being entertaining and thought provoking than the "big name" movies that are highly publicized and hyped. I do think this movie would have been a huge commercial success if A-list actors had been cast instead of smaller names but that said, I think the acting was absolutely top notch and for a fantasy they made it very believable and enjoyable. I would recommend this to friends and family without hesitation.

I was intrigued by the trailer for this and decided to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. The acting was well-done and believable by the full cast, writing and dialogue delivered, and the pacing kept me interested until the end. Definitely worth a watch if you are looking for something with more meat to it and less action/CGI/big budget junk.

I've seen a number of reviews asserting that this movie is "slow to start" but I personally disagree. If you've read the description of the film at all you know the main character is supposed to relive a tragic part of his life over and over and over and you might imagine this will get tedious at some point. This is a potential problem in movies that use this element, Ground Hog Day being an example of a film that goes a bit overboard with it--at least to me. Cruel & Unusual doesn't feel like that. There are significant changes or abbreviations made to the repeated sequence each time it is repeated, which keeps you watching. I love how Edgar changes the repeated sequence and how it changes him in turn. He grows more as a person while stuck on repeat than he probably did his entire life up to that point. As he changes you may not know who or what you're supposed to be rooting for anymore and to me that's a good story. I can understand that the ending might irk some, but I thought it was beautiful in its way.

Wow.......a complete surprise. Original story...really good acting....I actually was riveted to my seat. Give it a go......really really good!

A very powerful,... emotionally charged,.... well executed film !

The slow plot makes for hard work to stick with the film, and one feels one earns a far better pay-off for having suffered the indie-film-flaws, but nope, just a "glad it's over" bleh. Production values were really a major harsh. I'm so sick of free-venues -- basements, fields, roadsides, and the houses of the actors probably. Acting was good-ish, casting was indie-ish, writing was okay-ish, and that adds up to a lot of ish. Can't suggest ish to anyone. When I rate a film at two stars -- it's my way of telling my future self to never watch this film if I should forget I saw it.

Imagine having a bad dream, in which you see a loved one die at your hands. Only to wake up in some kind of asylum, not knowing what's real and what's inside of your own head. That is just one of the themes questioned in the new Sci-fi Thriller, Cruel & Unusual. This is one strange film, that will leave you questioning the nature of reality, but is it all that believable? The story is definitely unique, but has more than several appealing plot holes, that will leave you wondering if the movie was just lazy or beyond your comprehension. The film centers on Edger, played poorly by David Richmond-Peck. Are we really supposed to believe that this guy is capable of the temper or heroism his character is supposed to have displayed? Even less believable is that he's got a hot wife! Personally, I watched this strange film for Richard Harmon, best known as one of the stars of The 100. Harmon truly brings the words devilishly handsome to life, as behind that innocent face and crooked in smile, something sinister is always lurking, and that's what makes him so entertaining. The bottom line is that Cruel & Unusual is a weird film, that makes you think and can be frustrating at times. As a critic, I see massive holes in the story, but maybe, just maybe those were intentional, left to us to fill in the gaps, in which case, the film itself could be as smart and deep as it's plot.

Very inventive movie. Hell is living your crime over and over ... then going to group therapy.