Review of Gothika (2003) by Pirante — 06 Dec 2018

The frustrating thing about a movie like Gothika is that there are some really good elements, and some really interesting ideas, that are never fully realized and this leaves you, the watcher, with a sense of disappointment.

The premise of the movie - a former psychiatric doctor finds herself in the position as patient after committing a heinous crime - is an interesting hook and something that draws your attention immediately.

The first act of the movie is incredibly strong in which the patients delusions coupled with memory loss really show how helpless the position 'clinically insane' is. It also demonstrates how such places, like psychiatric hospitals, can contribute and almost lead, to a worsening of said delusions.

I Also think it was one of the better portrayals of mental illness - say what you want about Halle Berry but she plays the role well and the sense of confusion and hopelessness in the patient is done well.

My biggest criticism of the movie, and this will sound strange considering it is billed as a horror movie, are the supernatural elements. The psychiatrist/patient being guided by a ghost to solve the eventual crime is a really, really weak story line and would have worked better if the 'ghost' acted as a mere hallucination in response to the trauma of finding out the truth about her partner.

It is, I suppose, passable at first but, as the movie proceeds, it becomes more and more ludicrous until it loses all credibility and, at that point, so to does the movie. There was an opportunity here to create a really powerful piece of cinema focusing on mental illness, society's treatment of it, and the sort of triggers for said illness.

Instead the supernatural element is just pushed to excess which, rather than building on the strong start to the movie, weakens it significantly. There are many ludicrous moments but the alarming ease in which our protagonist is able to escape a mental institution is laughable and by far the worst.

The movie, again and again, veers toward a Hollywood style movie when its best points are the moments when it resists such temptations. Sadly this stylistic choice becomes more and more obvious until the 3rd act reverts completely to type in order to wrap everything up in a nice, neat package.

There are some really great elements in this movie but they are lost amidst the clamour for a more commercially acceptable movie and, sadly, the movie suffers as a result. The potential here is huge and, if this was made into a straight up psychological thriller (without the supernatural elements), could have been something very interesting.

Instead interest wanes quickly and, by the last third of the movie, you may wonder why you even bother to continue watching. I can't imagine people who love horror movies being all that enamoured with this offering; I can't imagine people who love psychological thrillers being all that enamoured with this offering - this movie was too afraid to either be straight up horror or straight up thriller and as a result we get a confusing mess which tries to be both, but never really succeeds in being either.

I suspect the rating (12+) merely contributed to this mess and, as a result, an opportunity for a really great movie is passed by. It is worth watching one time but I can almost guarantee that you will not come back for a second helping - and why would you? Any suspense or ambiguity is completely stamped out of the movie by the end, and this heavy handed approach to the story is perhaps the biggest issue this movie has.