Vague Visages’ What Remains review contains minor spoilers. Ran Huang’s 2022 movie features Gustaf Skarsgård, Stellan Skarsgård and Andrea Riseborough. Check out the VV home page for more film reviews.

Don’t expect any bright fireworks or narrative clarity in What Remains, the feature directorial debut by Chinese filmmaker Ran Huang. The 126-minute drama falls into the “trauma porn” subgenre, with the story revolving around a child killer named Mads Lake (Gustaf Skarsgård) at a psychiatric hospital in Finland. Huang color-codes his 90s-set film through browns and yellows, which at once creates a retro vibe while subtly acknowledging the sunlight (aka hope) that remains within the minds of Mads, his depressed therapist Anna (Andrea Riseborough) and a police officer (Stellan Skarsgård as Soren Rank) dealing with familial issues. What Remains is a low-key stylish film about human potential and the elevation of consciousness, though Huang keeps the audience trapped in a dark and uncomfortable place with his cryptic storytelling.

In What Remains, Mads suffers from migraine headaches while recalling his past crimes and hoping for a fresh start. Due to a traumatic childhood experience, he can’t quite remember the specifics of various sexual assaults and starts to believe that maybe he’s been manipulated by law enforcement figures and psychologists. Meanwhile, Anna tells Mads not to be misled by “the idea of fate” as she thinks about her own childhood trauma (a familial suicide) while hooking up with a rando and addressing health issues. The main protagonists clash with Soren, an investigator that may remind viewers of Skarsgård’s frustrated character Lambeau from the 1997 classic Good Will Hunting (1997), as both men function as inadequate mediators, primarily because of their egocentric behavior. In fact, Soren acknowledges that he feels “outside of everything,” which is exactly how most viewers will presumably feel while waiting for something exciting to happen in What Remains.

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Huang and cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt take a minimalistic approach in What Remains. They repeatedly shift between stylized character close-ups (one person facing the camera in the background, another protagonist seen from the back in the foreground) and wide shots that display variations of the aforementioned brown/yellow color palette. The visual style isn’t necessarily blatant, but there’s enough surface-level design for viewers to pick up on recurring concepts. Aside from that, there’s not much that elevates the quality of What Remains, aside from an unsurprisingly exceptional performance by Riseborough, who essentially delivers a subdued and PG-13 version of her outstanding acting in the 2022 film To Leslie. The English actress always stands out with her non-verbals during reaction moments — in this case, Riseborough’s character clings onto hope while trying to help a man who refuses to fully hit rock bottom, if only because he too believes that his miserable existence can somehow change into something better. And Skarsgård — whose wife Megan Everett-Skarsgård co-wrote the What Remains screenplay with Huang — functions as a game-managing quarterback; a character who acknowledges his obvious flaws but isn’t ready to retire. There’s plenty of rich detail for each main player, but the key issue is that the most intriguing moments typically culminate with Gustaf Skarsgård (Stellan’s real-life son) wailing as Mads searches for clarity and comfort.

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Ultimately, a lack of clarity is what makes What Remains so frustrating. Is Mads a killer or a child molestor? Is he both? The fact that he doesn’t know himself seems to be the point, as What Remains is indeed a film about codependent relationships and how the truth can’t fully emerge when someone manipulates their behavior and words to please others. Huang’s feature debut might make more sense if viewers interpret the three main protagonists as a singular, traumatized character. But there’s not much solace to be found in What Remains — just confusion, a consistent downpouring of metaphorical rain, a touch of cinematic style and a few interesting acting moments.

What Remains released theatrically and digitally in June 2024.

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Q.V. Hough (@QVHough) is Vague Visages’ founding editor.