Retina (2017)

The movie begins with scenes that appear in April's dreams. Everything is blue except for a red carpet. Then April is being dragged through a long hallway by two men, and she has a bag over her head. She is seated in an interrogation room. The bag is removed but she is handcuffed. A man asks her questions which she doesn't know how to answer.

Finally, the man asks her about the events of the past week. April is jogging in New York City. She returns to her modest apartment where she has a message from her husband on her answering machine. He wants her to at least talk to him and to get her cell phone fixed because she's impossible to reach. After all, they were married for four years. While April is relaxing in the bathtub, she gets another phone call. A woman leaves a message about a study of anti-anxiety drugs and April is someone the woman believes might be interested in the study. It pays $2500. April goes to the building where Dr. Green's office is located. A receptionist gives her two sets of forms to fill out. Based on her responses on one of the forms, April is unemployed and has serious anxiety. A man in the waiting room is behaving strangely and has a cut on his neck. Dr. Green gives April an exam prior to giving her the pills. At one point he claims to be checking her neck, but he is actually inserting something in her neck. Dr. Green gives April the pills she is supposed to take along with directions, which include avoiding alcohol. She is supposed to check back with Dr. Green periodically, especially if she has side effects, although she has been assured any side effects will be minor. Meanwhile, one man on a dark street hands another man an envelope. April ignores the advice about alcohol. She has already been shown drinking. That night she has very strange dreams, with quickly changing images of New York City where everything is blue. April tells Dr. Green about the dreams and admits she drank a little whiskey. Dr. Green reminds her not to do that. While she is jogging again, Brian follows her and takes pictures. Another night, more strange dreams. Periodically, the movie returns to the interrogation room. At one point, the man questioning April shows her the bottle of pills and asks if those were the pills she took. April visits several places of business and Brian is following her. Brian is later shown in a computer chat with Iris (only words on the screen), who asks if he finished the job. He will not get paid until he does. Brian visits and older man and beats him up, later assuring Iris the job is done, only it isn't. On one occasion April is arriving back at her apartment when Brian introduces himself and says he is her next door neighbor. He seems friendly, but later he shown listening to whatever is going on in April's apartment. April's dreams get more and more strange. She is shown confidently shooting a gun at a target. Words flash on a screen quickly, as if she has been shown a video with subliminal messages which are training her for a mission. Brian also appears in the dreams. Eventually, April is attacked in her apartment by a man whose face is covered. As he tries to drown her in her bathtub, Dr. green appears and asks her if what is happening is real. She doesn't answer, and Dr. Green disappears, but she is able to stop the man and get away. In the interrogation room, the man angrily demands to know why April didn't call someone for help. After the incident in the apartment April wanders around the city and a man starts following her. April calls her husband on a pay phone and he is annoyed that she called him about something minor at 4 in the morning, and he asks her to come home to him. Finally, there are no more flashbacks to earlier events. The man interrogating April is revealed to be the man who followed her at 4 in the morning. April remembers or experiences horrifying visions, starting with numerous very brief views of the city, all in blue, with that red blanket appearing on a roof in all of them. There are also words flashed on a screen quickly which seem to be spelling out a message. April finally appears on the roof, lifts the blanket, and pulls out a machine gun and aims it. An evil voice counts down "3, 2, 1". April apparently shoots people on the street, and numerous explosions happen all over the city. A major bridge is destroyed and much of the Statue of Liberty is gone. The man interrogating April goes in another room and April follows him. She overhears the man telling Dr. Green she knows everything and thinks it has already happened. She gets her hands on a gun and threatens the men, but Dr. Green shoots the other man. April is rescued and news coverage indicates she foiled a major terrorist plot where people were being brainwashed. A year later April is happy and talking on a cell phone. She has a job. Then that evil voice says "3, 2, 1" and April looks as if she has been hypnotized.