PhD student Joshua Schulze recently published an article in CineAction entitled, "'A More Boxier Feel': Aspect Ratio, Architecture, and Ecology in A Cure for Wellness (2016)." The article, as part of a (somewhat timely) special issue on “Horror and Plague," considers the relationship between aspect ratio, architecture, the horror genre, and broader questions of ecology.
Schulze analyzes the production history of the film, parts of which were shot at the Beelitz-Heilstätten complex - an abandoned sanatorium in Germany that was used to treat Nazi soldiers in World War 2 - including how the filmmakers digitally developed a particular aspect ratio (1.66:1) to capture the height inside the hospital.
(Above, stills from A Cure for Wellness, 2016).
