Another lazy attempt at exploiting the mentally ill, Todd doesn’t have the depth, nor the tender hand, to accomplish its goals. Title character Todd (Hans Hernke) has always felt like an outsider. His constant torment from his peers eventually rubs off on Todd’s general outlook on life. He begins to spiral further and further into insanity, setting his sights on a budding young actress from a diner, his psychiatrist, and the doctor’s family. Medication doesn’t work. Therapy doesn’t work. Is there any way to stop this madman?
The basic plot has a very been-there-done-that feel, but in the right hands, such a concept could’ve had merit. The uneven script overestimates how much we care about the side characters. Boring family drama takes up a decent chunk of the film’s runtime. Instead of contributing to the overarching story, the side plots just make Todd feel extra bloated. A slimmer runtime and shifted focus would’ve been great to hammer out during script rewrites. If Todd had set his sights on just one particular subject, potential existed here to deliver a creepy character study piece, like Maniac. Instead, the film is all over the place. Scenes staged for emotional conflict are misguided, and laughably bad. Todd left me with a big headache, stumbling around in need of a new prescription. Todd comes to DVD and digital March 16th, from BayView & Shoreline Entertainment.
