New video: ‘Unsane’ may be shot on an iPhone, but it’s a slick paranoid thriller

New on Blu-ray

“Unsane” (Universal DVD, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.98; 4K, $37.98; also available on VOD)

Before the psychological thriller “Unsane” came out earlier this year, a lot of the buzz surrounding the movie focused on how director Steven Soderbergh had shot the project in secret, with an iPhone. Surprisingly, “Unsane” turned out to be a slick, Hitchcockian suspense picture — not the least bit cheap-looking or ramshackle. Claire Foy stars as a stressed-out young woman who sees a therapist to help her deal with her anxiety about a recent run-in with a stalker and ends up institutionalized as part of a scheme to squeeze insurance money from the mentally ill. The heroine looks for anyone who’ll believe her story and help her escape, but it’s not easy since she’s emotionally unstable. Nail-biting scrapes and jarring twists abound in a story that’s relentless in the way it plays with the audience’s paranoia.

Special features: A featurette

VOD

Paul Rudd and Sienna Miller in “The Catcher Was A Spy.”

(Dusan Martinecek / Sundance Institute )

“The Catcher Was a Spy” (available June 22)

Paul Rudd gives an outstanding and unexpected performance in the WWII drama “The Catcher Was a Spy,” playing real-life Major League Baseball catcher Moe Berg, who in the 1940s volunteered his facility with languages and his analytical genius to the U.S war effort. Adapted from Nicholas Dawidoff’s book of the same name, “The Catcher Was a Spy” is a restrained kind of spy adventure — more of a character study than an action-packed cat-and-mouse story. But Rudd really digs into the heart of Berg, an American Jewish man who has trouble fitting in, even while excelling at the national pastime. The film captures the paradox of a restless soul who asserted his identity by becoming whatever his fellow countrymen wanted him to be.

TV set of the week

“Masterpiece: Man in an Orange Shirt” (PBS DVD, $29.99; Blu-ray, $34.99) Divided into two parts covering different generations, the “Masterpiece” melodrama “Man in an Orange Shirt” uses the experiences of one family to track the changing attitudes toward homosexuality in the U.K. The first half follows two old school chums who have a passionate fling after serving together as army officers during World War II. The second half jumps ahead to the present day, after both men are dead and one of their wives (played by Vanessa Redgrave) is living with a gay grandson. Social expectations affect the relationships in each scenario, but “Man in an Orange Shirt” subtly celebrates the increased options for people to be themselves — without ever suggesting that’s enough.

Special features: None

From the archives

“Bowling for Columbine” (Criterion DVD, $29.95; Blu-ray, $39.95)

When filmmaker and provocateur Michael Moore won the documentary feature Oscar for 2002’s “Bowling for Columbine,” it seemed like a watershed moment in America’s ongoing conversation about gun control and the culture of violence. Instead, the movie now seems both quaint and prescient — a primer on issues that have only become more pressing as the massacres have increased. Moore’s flair for showmanship means he plays a little too loose with the facts, but “Bowling for Columbine” is still an unusually grounded and honest example of cinematic activism, doggedly asking questions about why the U.S. is so gun-crazy, and who benefits.

Special features: New and old featurettes

Three more to see

“The Death of Stalin” (Paramount DVD, $17.99; also available on VOD); “Double Lover” (Cohen DVD, $25.99; Blu-ray, $30.99; also available on VOD); “Pacific Rim: Uprising” (Universal DVD, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.98; 3D, $37.98; 4K, $37.98; also available on VOD)

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