The story revolves around Gordon Fleming (Peter Mullan), the owner of an asbestos removal company who is struggling to make money. He accepts an offer to clean an abandoned mental institution, and with his friend and associate Phil (David Caruso), hires a crew to do the job (Josh Lucas, Stephen Gevedon and Brendan Sexton III). But very soon the haunted mental hospital starts to take its toll on the workers, especially Gordon.
The acting in the film was very convincing by all the actors. David Caruso and Peter Mullan did a great job at his characters. Mullan did a great job at showing the different phases of his character's mental breakdown; each time you saw him he made you wonder what was going on in his mind. When the mystery was finally resolved, Mullan does an exceptional job at showing a completely different Gordon Fleming; the one that had been hiding a terrible secret. David Caruso also did a great job as Phil, Fleming's right-hand man. At times, his attitude made you wonder if he was the bad guy of the film, which distracted the audience from what was really going on and made the ending that much more surprising. The rest of the three workers also did a good job at portraying their characters: Hank (Josh Lucas), the thief who causes the asylum start to haunt the workers; Jeff (Brendan Sexton III), the youngest of the bunch who was scared of the dark and much more immature than the rest of his co-workers; and Mike (Stephen Gevedon), the man who knows the most about the haunted asylum.
The techniques used in the film aided the story in becoming creepier and more disturbing. The use of sound is perhaps one of the most important ones, since it directly impacts the storyline and not just the look of the film. Throughout the film, we hear snippets of a doctor-patient interview with Mary, a multiple personality disorder patient at the asylum. Mike finds nine records that include the interviews and often escapes work to listen to them. The third of Mary's personality, Simon, was believed to do something terrible with a knife. These interviews add to the feeling of the asylum being haunted, and ultimately help Gordon Fleming realize his mental state and what he has done. The use of dark settings with very little light except the sunlight coming in from the windows in the asylum also help to add a creepy and haunted feel to the story.
The main theme in "Session 9" could be described as the darkness withing us all. Several times we hear characters saying Gordon Fleming never loses his temper, but in the end it is proven that even he can do the unthinkable. The film represents that threat that there is something in you that you cannot help and that can be extremely dangerous. Paul Mullan succeeded at convincing us that there was a dark side to his character as well, and that it was something he hadn't even noticed until the very end of the film. His acting helped the theme become very clear. Another theme is the way that our surroundings can reflect our actions. In this case, the workers had to go to a mental institution, which definitely affected Gordon and eventually helped him realize the truth about his actions. The playback of the nine sessions between the doctor and Mary also helped the audience slowly realize that something was wrong with Gordon, and eventually led to the conclusion of the film.
Ultimately, "Session 9" succeeded at being a great horror film. The acting combined with the setting made the asylum so haunting but at the same time so interesting; it made you want to know more about what happened there, especially with Mary. It definitely leaves the audience thinking of what happened to Gordon Fleming that made him commit such terrible actions. What makes a seemingly normal person become someone evil? Questions left unanswered is what makes the ending so scary. It is definitely a must-see.
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