The Infernal Machine (2022 film)

The Infernal Machine is a 2022 psychological mystery thriller film written and directed by Andrew Hunt. It is based on a story written by Louis Kornfeld. The film stars Guy Pearce, Alice Eve, Jeremy Davies, and Alex Pettyfer.

The Infernal Machine was released in the United States on September 23, 2022, and in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2022, by Paramount Pictures.

Synopsis
Bruce Cogburn, a reclusive and controversial author of the famed book The Infernal Machine, is drawn out of hiding when he begins to receive endless letters from an obsessive fan. Cogburn has lived in self-imposed isolation for 25 years in the American southwest. He was driven there in 1981 by the actions of a young man who began shooting in a Knoxville TN university killing 13 people and blaming his action on Cogburn's only book called The Infernal Machine.Then letters show up in his post office box from William Dukent a writer seeking an interview with him. Cogburn travels 45 minutes to the nearest phone booth to leave increasingly threatening phone messages for the writer demaning that the letters stop. Cogburn's paranoia and alcohol consumption grow. Cogburn goes to meet the shooter in prison using a fake name. The shooter manages to escape from prison. The shooter arrives to Cogburn"s house. Cogburn manages to kill him. In the end it turns out that it was actually one of his students when he worked as a teacher that wrote the book.

Cast

 * Guy Pearce as Bruce Cogburn
 * Alice Eve as Officer Laura Higgins
 * Alex Pettyfer as Dwight Tufford
 * Jeremy Davies as Elijah Barett

Production
Filming took place over five weeks in Algarve, Portugal, in Portugal’s Moviebox Studios, and on locations in and around the town of Loulé. Paramount Pictures acquired worldwide rights to The Infernal Machine in October 2021. The film was financed by executive producer Jack Christian's financing firm, Filmology Finance.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, 46% of 13 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 5.5/10.

Ewan Gleadow of Cult Following wrote positively of the film, praising Guy Pearce for having "finally found comfort and quality in a performance that should hopefully buffer his star that little bit more."