"Locked" (2025): The Cage as a Mirror of Trauma

Initial Brushstrokes

A cinematic analysis based on the experience of institutional confinement

When Fiction Surpasses Real Horror

Locked (2025)—titled Blindado in Spain and Encerrado in Latin America—is not just a psychological thriller. It is a brutal confrontation with the loss of autonomy, a theme that resonates deeply with those of us who have experienced institutional confinement. As a viewer who survived an adolescent psychiatric hospital, I affirm: this film understands the terror of feeling watched, manipulated, and reduced to a number.

Directed by David Yarovesky and starring Anthony Hopkins and Bill Skarsgård , Locked reinvents the Argentine-Spanish concept of 4x4 (2019) to explore something more sinister: how systems of control disguise themselves as justice.

Brushstrokes intertwined with my own life

I. The Technological Cage vs. The Institutional Cage

In Locked:

The Dolus vehicle is a high-tech prison with cameras, electric shocks, and arbitrary rules. Each escape attempt by Eddie ( Skarsgård ) worsens his situation, while William ( Hopkins )—his captor—justifies the torture as a "moral lesson."

In my experience:

The psychiatric hospital operated with the same perverse logic. Rules changed without explanation (such as prohibiting dancing or smoking), and every protest was punished as "disturbing the peace." The difference is that Dolus has an instruction manual, institutions only have excuses.

"Both systems use pain as pedagogy: they break you to 'rebuild' you in their image."

II. Anthony Hopkins: The God of the Microcosm

His character:

William is not a traditional villain, but the embodiment of the oppressive system. With a calm voice and circular reasoning, he turns sadism into "therapy." His terminal cancer adds a disturbing layer: he's an executioner who believes he's redeemed himself before dying.

My appreciation:

I saw in him those psychiatrists who, after arbitrary diagnoses, medicated us into submission. Hopkins captures that bureaucratic coldness that does more damage than shouting: violence disguised as benevolence.

III. Bill Skarsgård: The Spiral of Despair

His journey:

Eddie goes through stages that any prisoner will recognize:

Rage ("This is unfair!")

Bargaining (finding flaws in the system)

Distorted acceptance (internalizing the oppressor's rules)

My reflection:

Like when, in the psychiatric ward, I learned to smile at the nurses while planning small rebellions. Locked succeeds in showing that resistance is rarely epic; sometimes it's stealing a moment of dignity amid humiliation.

IV. The Horror That Needs No Monsters

The most disturbing thing about Locked:

It's not the electric shocks or the confinement, but the normalization of cruelty. William isn't a psychopath, but a man convinced of his goodness. This reflects the harshest truth about institutions: their worst abuses are committed by people who believe they are helping.

From the psychiatric hospital to the Dolus:

Both systems share an axiom: "If you suffer, it's for your own good." The film exposes this lie with a harshness that hurts to recognize.

Final Brushstrokes

Conclusion: Why Locked Transcends the Genre

This film should be studied alongside works like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari or One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Not for its (impeccable) technique, but for its honesty in portraying the oppressor/victim dynamic.

Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5/5)

It's missing half a point because, like the psychiatric hospital, it leaves you with the feeling that no escape is permanent.

Personal Afterword:

I left the theater with my fists clenched. Not because I was afraid of William, but because Locked forced me to remember that some cages are never truly abandoned. We only learn to live with their bars etched into our skin.

Note to the reader:
This article avoids key spoilers to preserve the film's impact. If you've lived in oppressive institutions, you'll see your story reflected in every shot. If not, you may understand for the first time why true horror doesn't need ghosts.

Author's byline:Survivor and witness to how art can be catharsis.

GMD