Review: ‘Dementia’s’ nurse-patient thriller has a Roman Polanski vibe

In one of the most gripping scenes in the otherwise spotty psychological thriller “Dementia,” a live-in nurse tries to hone a recovering stroke victim’s faculties by asking him to remember the steps for making a pot of tea. As he struggles to get every detail just right, the moment becomes increasingly tense — and creates just the kind of offbeat, well-observed drama that the movie should have attempted more often.

Fine veteran character actor Gene Jones plays the senior citizen, George Lockhart, a Vietnam vet still haunted by what he had to do to survive. Kristine Klebe plays his caretaker, Michelle, who’s friendly in public but in private pumps her client with drugs and asks suspiciously probing questions about what he did in the war.

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Director Mike Testin and writer Meredith Berg court a Roman Polanski vibe with “Dementia,” digging into the torment of a powerless person who can’t convince anyone that the abuse he’s suffering is real.

The film works best when it sticks to the stand-off between nurse and patient, which is made all the more unnerving by Jason Turbin’s atonal score. When Testin and Berg expand the story to include George’s family members — and the rather prosaic, predictable explanation for what drew Michelle to this particular case — “Dementia” falters.

Still, Testin and Berg’s work here is definitely promising, suggesting something better from both of them down the road. Their “Dementia” is the rare low-budget suspense movie that values performance and character over hooky concepts and cheap thrills.

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“Dementia”

No MPAA rating.

Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle Noho 7, North Hollywood.