I think it was high time that we had a really good movie that showed a realistic depiction of what happened during the satanic panic in the 80s and 90s. The movie does a fantastic job depicting how psychologists, policemen, priests, and other people can inadvertently (or, perhaps, somewhat intentionally) implant false memories in people. It also does a good job explaining how regressions don't surface real "buried memories", but actually create new false memories. And finally, it did a great job depicting how one false accusation can trigger others, eventually pulling more and more people into its web.
(Spoiler about movie's ending follows.)
Having said all of that, I found the movie's ending to be cheap and disappointing. The girl who originated the first accusation is basically painted as the bad guy. Hawke's character, a policeman, explicitly calls her out as being evil. In reality, the children making the accusations in the real-world satanic panic were obviously not evil. They were victims themselves, just not victims of satanic ritual abuse. Instead, they were victims of a system that implanted false memories in their minds.
In fact, the way Regression plays out, this would have been a valid ending to the movie, since there were people who were egging her on, giving her new ideas for people to accuse, and stories to concoct.
Instead, Amenábar decided to end the movie with the unrealistic idea that she somehow planned this whole thing as a revenge plot against her own family, and to get out of her family's influence. It's unrealistic, it's insulting to the audience, and it's pulling down what would otherwise have been a nigh perfect movie.
What's more, this kind of victim blaming is actually dangerous. In the real world, it's very rare that women intentionally falsely accuse others of having raped them. At the same time, women's accusations of rape are often dismissed or not taken seriously. Ending Regression in this way, by effectively blaming the women for the whole thing, plays into this narrative of not believing women's accusations.
In addition to all of these points, it would also have been a much more interesting, realistic movie if the conclusion had been that, no, there was no really bad guy. Everybody did their best, and things went to hell anyway, because people are not perfect, and the best intentions can't always guarantee a good outcome. But I guess Hollywood needs a bad guy, and that's what we got.
In conclusion: fantastic movie, but a disappointing, unrealistic, sadly dangerous and kind of insulting ending.
(Spoiler about movie's ending follows.)
Having said all of that, I found the movie's ending to be cheap and disappointing. The girl who originated the first accusation is basically painted as the bad guy. Hawke's character, a policeman, explicitly calls her out as being evil. In reality, the children making the accusations in the real-world satanic panic were obviously not evil. They were victims themselves, just not victims of satanic ritual abuse. Instead, they were victims of a system that implanted false memories in their minds.
In fact, the way Regression plays out, this would have been a valid ending to the movie, since there were people who were egging her on, giving her new ideas for people to accuse, and stories to concoct.
Instead, Amenábar decided to end the movie with the unrealistic idea that she somehow planned this whole thing as a revenge plot against her own family, and to get out of her family's influence. It's unrealistic, it's insulting to the audience, and it's pulling down what would otherwise have been a nigh perfect movie.
What's more, this kind of victim blaming is actually dangerous. In the real world, it's very rare that women intentionally falsely accuse others of having raped them. At the same time, women's accusations of rape are often dismissed or not taken seriously. Ending Regression in this way, by effectively blaming the women for the whole thing, plays into this narrative of not believing women's accusations.
In addition to all of these points, it would also have been a much more interesting, realistic movie if the conclusion had been that, no, there was no really bad guy. Everybody did their best, and things went to hell anyway, because people are not perfect, and the best intentions can't always guarantee a good outcome. But I guess Hollywood needs a bad guy, and that's what we got.
In conclusion: fantastic movie, but a disappointing, unrealistic, sadly dangerous and kind of insulting ending.