A heartbroken man (Johnny Galecki) attends a spiritual retreat and discovers the regimen releases more than just toxins.

For thoughts on The Cleanse, please check out my thoughts on No Streaming Required:

Video Quality

The Cleanse comes to Blu-Ray in a 1080p presentation that looks great. This is a visually appealing film with many lovely shots of forests where you can see an incredible amount of detail. The film spotlights the vibrant hues on display from the greens of the foliage to the splashes of color in the clothing and elements of the special effects and production design. The natural color palette is reproduced perfectly here with a pleasing radiance.

Skin tones look very detailed and natural all around. Other details are pulled into sharp focus such as the slimy nature of the creatures and textures on the shirts. Numerous sequences featuring trees in the background provide a nice reference to showcase the notable depth at play in the image. Nearly all shots are razor-sharp for a crisp veneer. The highlights are handled beautifully, along with the deep black levels that do not appear to suffer from any compression artifacts. There are no egregious deficiencies when it comes to noise or other such digital nuisances. This presentation is a worthy presentation of the film.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that establishes a gentle mood before getting more chaotic as the film moves along. The track impresses from the opening moments when the surround sound tracks bring the sound of falling rain to life with excellent complexity. The sound design is precisely executed with all of the sounds positioned just right in the mix. The environmental effects create an exciting soundscape that showcases the nuances of the setting.

The score is translated beautifully here with an enveloping use of the rear channels. Dialogue comes through crystal clear without ever being drowned out by the environmental effects or the score. This is not an action-heavy film, so the activity in the low end is reserved for a few thrilling moments of additional texture. This release brings the movie to life exactly as intended. Optional English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles are provided.

Special Features

Audio Commentaries: There are two commentary tracks provided that each offer great insight into the joy and challenges of making a film including the development of the story, the tonal balance, scrapped openings, pick-up shots, cast interactions, and so much more that is worth a listen.

- Audio Commentary #1: Writer/Director Bobby Miller

- Audio Commentary #2: Writer/Director Bobby Miller and Actors Johnny Galecki and Kyle Gallner

Making The Cleanse: A 16-minute featurette in which the cast and creative team discuss the development of the film, the underlying themes, traits of the characters, the direction of Bobby Miller, the special effects work, and more.

Deleted Scenes: A nearly 16-minute collection of unused material is provided. There are some interesting character moments that might have worked well in the finished film.

Proof of Concept Teaser: A three-minute teaser provides a glimpse of what the film could be.

Creature Tests: A nearly three-minute look at the early creature movements.

Kyle Gallner Audition: A nearly three-minute look at the audition that landed Gallner the role in the film.

Creature Gallery: A nearly five-minute look at early doodles, concept arts, and sculptures.

Animatics: An eight-minute featurette that shows the animatics created to convince the producers to add days for pick-up shoots.

Short Films by Director Bobby Miller

- End Times (9:07): A fascinating short film in which a man gets overly invested in a dying squirrel he comes across.

- Tub (12:26): A man has an intimate moment with himself in a tub and things quickly spiral out of control. We can understand why this got Miller some attention to make a feature.

Trailer: There is a two-minute trailer provided.

Final Thoughts

The Cleanse is a film with a truly unique and engaging premise that holds your attention throughout its brief runtime. The issue is that the runtime is too brief to fully explore all the ideas at hand in a significant manner. Rather than coming to a satisfying conclusion, the movie feels like it just arbitrarily ends because it ran out of resources – which it seems like it may have. This is a shame because the movie has so many positives such as its dark sense of humor, excellent performances, incredible practical effects, and more. We love a lot about this movie, but we wish it was fully formed. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray featuring a great A/V presentation and a valuable set of special features. Even with some shortcomings, the film is worth checking out. Recommended

The Cleanse can be purchased directly through MovieZyng or various other online retailers.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.