The Infernal Machine Clip: Guy Pearce Is Driven Mad By Cryptic Messages [Excusive]

In "The Infernal Machine," Guy Pearce plays a reclusive author lured out of hiding by an obsessive fan. Maybe his character was written in response to cinephiles demanding more leading roles from the star of "Memento." In the past, Pearce has seemed content to inhabit supporting roles, like when he donned old-age makeup for "Prometheus" or played the villain in "Iron Man 3." Occasionally, you'll see him take on a starring role, though, as he did in the Australian Western "The Proposition" or in the sci-fi actioner "Lockout" (that movie that ran into trouble with John Carpenter for its plot similarities to "Escape from New York.")

"The Infernal Machine" puts Pearce front and center for a film that co-stars Alice Eve, Jeremy Davies, and Alex Pettyfer. Writer-director Andrew Hunt has adapted the film from "The Hilly Earth Society" episode of The Truth Podcast, written by Louis Kornfeld. Check out our exclusive clip from "The Infernal Machine" below.

Taken out of context, this clip from "The Infernal Machine" almost plays like the part in the movie where the writer realizes he's a fictional character in his own book. The way it's edited brings to mind the audio montage at the end of "The Usual Suspects" where the cop thinks back on the whole movie and has an epiphany about the true identity of the villainous Keyser Soze.

I'm sure there's more to "The Infernal Machine" than that, and they wouldn't give away an important third-act reveal in marketing. It seems more likely that this is the part in the movie where Pearce's character, Cogburn, realizes that the obsessive fan he's dealing with is now writing a book based on their interactions.

Either way, "The Infernal Machine" looks to be a twisty thriller. Our review of the film called the final act "unwieldy" and suggested that it may get off to a promising start before unraveling, but it's not everyday you get to see Guy Pearce back on the thriller beat and in leading man mode à la "Memento."

Here's the official synopsis of "The Infernal Machine" from Paramount Pictures:

Guy Pearce stars in this psychological thriller of obsession and deceit. Bruce Cogburn (Pearce), a reclusive and controversial author of the famed book 'The Infernal Machine,' is drawn out of hiding when he begins to receive endless letters from an obsessive fan. What ensues is a dangerous labyrinth as Bruce searches for the person behind the cryptic messages... forcing him to confront his past and ultimately revealing the truth behind 'The Infernal Machine.'

"The Infernal Machine" is in select theaters and on digital now.