Control Freak (2024) Explores Identity, Control, and Dreams That Swallow You Whole
What if control isn’t something we hold, but something held over us? Control Freak (2025) unravels the illusion of autonomy through Val (Kelly Marie Tran), a self-help guru whose journey from rock bottom to success might not be as empowering as it seems. As cracks in her story emerge, so does a terrifying question, was she ever in control at all?
Introduction: What Happens When Control is an Illusion? (Or, Why Some Doors Only Open One Way)
Success. Autonomy. The idea that we are the masters of our own destiny. But what if everything we believe about control is a lie? What if the very environment we exist in dictates how much power we truly have?
Control Freak (2024), directed and written by Shal Ngo, dives into this existential dread with Valerie Nguyen (Kelly Marie Tran), a woman who built herself up from nothing, or at least, that’s what her bestselling book, Don’t Be a Victim, would have you believe. Val started by sleeping in her car. She then advanced to leading sold-out seminars on eliminating negative self-talk. Her story seems like a self-made success story… or so it seems.
The cracks begin to show as the film peels back the layers of her success. Her mother’s suicide. A father who became a monk and now spins tales of demonic possession and spirits that latch onto the weak-willed. And then there’s the voice in her head, the one she built her empire on. The one she branded as “toxic self-talk.” The one she once screamed at in the mirror to silence in the name of personal growth. The one that refuses to leave, even now, as her staff call her the Queen of Good Life Habits and her book tour cements her legacy.
“I want to be better. I want to succeed. That voice is a parasite inside my mind, and I was too generous a host.”
This line, delivered in an electrifying onstage performance, echoes through every scene that follows. But what if eliminating self-doubt isn’t enlightenment? What if it’s an exorcism?
The Hat: A Symbol of Power, Identity, or Oppression?
Val’s hat becomes an unexpected battleground for control. She first puts it on to cover a wound, one that grows too large to ignore. People see it. They know something is wrong. They want her to show it, to expose it, to acknowledge what’s happening. But she refuses. The film turns this into a psychological test of autonomy: who gets to decide when she reveals her vulnerabilities? The people around her insist she remove it. But why? And what does it mean if she does?
This ties back to the film’s larger themes, control isn’t something you wield, it’s something wielded against you. The hat is her choice, her boundary, her refusal to conform, and just like the voice in her head, others want it gone.
The Horror of “Be Careful What You Wish For”
Val wanted success. She got it. But now, it’s turning on her.
The horror in Control Freak isn’t just about paranoia, it’s about how easy it is to be consumed by the very things you chase. She preaches the gospel of self-mastery, but what if self-mastery is just another form of possession?
Through paranoia, gaslighting, and the erosion of reality, Control Freak slowly warps into a nightmare about what happens when you forcefully evict one demon, only to let another one in.
Screaming into Mirrors: The Spell to End It All
Val’s father spoke of the Shi Shan, the hungry ghost, a spirit that clings to those with deep-rooted suffering. Val never believed in ghosts. But she believed in getting rid of them.
Her nightly ritual, staring into the mirror, screaming, purging the weakness, the doubt, the voice, wasn’t self-improvement. It was a spell. And it was working. Until it wasn’t.
This is where the film takes a terrifying turn. The voice doesn’t leave. The mirror stares back. And the line between exorcism and erasure blurs.
When Dreams Try to Swallow You Whole – Control Freak Explained
The real horror? Val isn’t wrong. The mind is a powerful thing. We manifest our realities. But the more she fights, the more it becomes clear that she is no longer in control.
Her dreams have swallowed her whole. And she was the one who let them in.
“You can’t save yourself” and “You can’t stop hearing me.”
Artificial Intelligence wants to know who you think you are too. Watch Companion next.
Final Thoughts & Rating
Control Freak delivers a suffocating psychological horror experience, wrapping personal ambition, cultural superstition, and existential dread into one compelling nightmare.
Rating: 4 screaming parasites living rent-free in my mind out of 5. 👁️👁️👁️👁️
The film leaves us with an unsettling question:
“What if you weren’t meant to silence that voice? What if it was the only thing keeping you real?”
For other titles that explore self-identity and mental health, watch any of the next titles. Have you seen A Different Man, or The Substance? Need more crisis identify angst? Mother of Movies recommends checking out Grafted 2025. Sure it’s gross, but it has a point.
Control Freak Movie Trailer
Val’s journey mirrors real-world self-help movements, some of which have cult-like followings [ABCNews].
“What if the thing you wanted most was the thing that destroyed you?”
