Traditional infernal imagery—fire, demons, pitchforks—is notably absent in New. Instead, Reyes places hell inside domestic spaces: a kitchen where the same breakfast is made every morning despite a child’s disappearance; a bedroom mirror that shows a slightly older, weeping version of the narrator each night. The restraints tighten when the narrator applies “sound” reasoning to these phenomena. For instance, she calculates that the weeping reflection must be a trick of light and therefore ignores it. By ignoring, she permits the torment to continue. Reyes thus redefines infernal punishment as the relentless application of logic to the illogical—a mind so disciplined it cannot escape even when the door is visibly open.
Infernal Restraints of Sound Mind follows Elias, a forensic psychiatrist assigned to evaluate a patient at the Paradiso Asylum—a facility so clean, so white, so quiet that it induces psychosis. The patient claims to have invented a “logic trap” that proves free will is a myth.
Elias, a paragon of rational thought, dismisses this. But as the film progresses, subtle restraints appear: infernal restraintsof sound mind riley reyes new
The climax inverts the asylum trope: Elias realizes he is not the doctor. He is the patient who escaped ten years ago, and the “infernal restraint” is the compulsion to believe in his own sanity.
The pacing is deliberate. Infernal Restraints scenes are rarely rushed. They allow time for the viewer to appreciate the predicament. Production Overview
The narrative begins in a sterile, white room. The protagonist wakes up strapped to a chair that has no visible locking mechanism—hence the "restraints" are internal. An AI voice, referred to in the credits as "The Executor," reads a will back to the protagonist.
The twist? The will was written by the protagonist before they entered this state. In a moment of "sound mind," they legally consented to this torture as an art experiment. The "infernal" aspect isn't hellfire; it is the realization that you did this to yourself. every color grade
Reyes uses a technique called "loop-stutter editing." Scenes repeat with minute differences—a glass of water is full, then empty, then full again. The sound design oscillates between absolute silence (the sound mind) and a guttural, industrial roar (the infernal). The keyword here is restraint: The film restrains the audience’s ability to look away by making the mundane horrific.
Since its premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival, Infernal Restraints of Sound Mind has polarized critics.
The controversy is by design. Reyes’ new approach is not to entertain but to infect. The film requires active participation. You must question every cut, every color grade, every whisper.