By Robert Scucci
| Published
Ever want to just get away from it all, start a new life, and let go of everything that’s been holding you back? Well, if you’re thinking on going on a spiritual retreat like the one found in 2016’s The Cleanse, you may want to err on the side of caution because you don’t know what kind of dark revelations are waiting for you, or, in this case, ready to come out of you after chugging the content from a series of questionably filled mason jars.
The Cleanse starts with desperate people trying to figure out who they are, and where they’re going, but takes its characters on a wild ride of self-exploration when they learn that they’ll have to confront an entirely new manifestation of their past selves in the most bizarre way possible.
The Cleanse
After a series of unfortunate life events, Paul Beger (Johnny Galecki) is desperate for change. Having seen a promotion for the “Let’s Get Pure” program on late-night television, Paul decides to see what it’s all about, and attends a screening which is also attended by struggling actress Maggie Jameson (Anna Friel), Eric (Kyle Gallner), and Eric’s girlfriend, Laurie (Diana Bang).
Though Paul is the only person willing to be honest about his life during this initial screening in the Cleanse, the group is selected to attend a spiritual retreat run by Ken Roberts (Oliver Platt) that promises to transform their lives for the better.
The group is transported to an undisclosed location in the woods, and they’re introduced to Lily (Anjelica Huston), who sets the retreat in motion by instructing each participant to drink a concoction that’s specifically formulated for each individual’s needs. Willing to do anything to turn over a new leaf in The Cleanse, Paul quickly drinks the solution, and immediately falls ill to the point where he throws up in the sink in his cabin.
The following day, Paul notices that whatever came out of him was a living creature that he has to rescue from the plumbing.
Purging Your Negativity
By the time The Cleanse shifts into its second act, we learn that Paul isn’t alone in his discovery, as Maggie also has a similar experience, and has been raising a vomit spawn of her own. As Paul and Maggie start to bond over their past traumas and wishes for a brighter future, their little creatures also start to get along while mimicking their respective behaviors. As it turns out, the solution they drank in The Cleanse forced them to purge all of their negativity, which manifests physically in the form of these creatures.
Looking for answers, and a means to complete the program, Paul and Maggie set out to find out exactly what’s going on, and if anybody else is having a similar experience, but they’re left in the dark until the moment is right, when they’re told the disturbing next steps they’ll have to work their way to see any form of payoff.
Streaming The Cleanse
The Cleanse is both quirky and insightful because it’s not everyday you catch a look at a physical manifestation of all your negativity that’s actually quite cute. Driving home the point that we all have a tendency to nurture our negativity instead of letting it go, we’re met with a moral conundrum that we all have to face. Should we let go of our negativity, or simply be dragged through life by it?
Aiming to answer these questions, The Cleanse is currently streaming for free on Tubi, and may be just the thing you need to develop a healthy perspective on life that includes the positives, negatives, and everything else in between.
