The jumpy twists are terrifying enough; the loony asylum is a Gothic masterpiece; but the continuity is sloppy
Gothika (2003)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:159
Fresh:24
Rotten:135
Average Rating:4.1/10
Consensus: Berry's acting talents can't save Gothika from its preposterous plot and bad dialogue.
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: A brilliant and respected criminal psychologist, Dr. Miranda Grey (HALLE BERRY) is an expert at knowing what is rational. What is logical. What is sane. Under the direction of her husband... A brilliant and respected criminal psychologist, Dr. Miranda Grey (HALLE BERRY) is an expert at knowing what is rational. What is logical. What is sane. Under the direction of her husband (CHARLES S. DUTTON), the chief administrator of the psychiatric ward at the Woodward Penitentiary for Women, Miranda treats dangerously disturbed patients like Chloe (PENÉLOPE CRUZ), an intensely charismatic murderess whose confessions of satanic torture are dismissed by the judicious doctor as the psychotic meanderings of a paranoid mind. But Miranda's comfortable marriage and stable life are thrust into terrifying jeopardy after a cryptic encounter with a mysterious young girl leads to a nightmare beyond her wildest imagination. When Miranda awakens from the horrific incident, she is shocked to discover that her husband has been murdered - and the bloody evidence points directly at her. Unable to fathom having committed an unmotivated act of such sheer brutality against a man she loved and admired, Miranda suddenly finds herself confined to Woodward alongside the highly unstable patients she used to treat with methodical detachment. With no memory of the night in question except for fractured visions of the hauntingly enigmatic girl, the doctor's behavior becomes increasingly erratic. Her claims of innocence are seen as the beginnings of a deep descent into madness by her former colleagues like Dr. Pete Graham (ROBERT DOWNEY JR.), Miranda's sympathetic but skeptical coworker who is wrestling with issues of his own. Forced to rely on her instincts rather than facts, Miranda begins to believe that she has been possessed by a supernatural force determined to exact revenge at the expense of her sanity. As Chloe draws her deeper into her own personal hell, Miranda must determine if she is being driven to madness…or closer to the truth. Warner Bros. Pictures and Columbia Pictures presents a Dark Castle Entertainment production, Gothika, starring HALLE BERRY. The film also stars ROBERT DOWNEY JR., CHARLES S. DUTTON, JOHN CARROLL LYNCH, BERNARD HILL and PENÉLOPE CRUZ. Gothika is directed by MATHIEU KASSOVITZ and produced by JOEL SILVER, ROBERT ZEMECKIS and SUSAN LEVIN. Written by SEBASTIAN GUTIERREZ, the film is executive produced by STEVE RICHARDS, GARY UNGAR and DON CARMODY. The co-producer is RICHARD MIRISCH. The music is by JOHN OTTMAN; the director of photography is MATTHEW LIBATIQUE, A.S.C.; the production designer is GRAHAM "GRACE" WALKER; and the editor is YANNICK KERGOAT. -- © Warner Bros. [More]
Starring: Halle Berry, Robert Downey, Penélope Cruz, Charles S. Dutton
Starring: Halle Berry, Robert Downey, Penélope Cruz, Charles S. Dutton, John Carroll Lynch, Bernard Hill, Kathleen Mackey
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Screenwriter: Sebastian Gutierrez
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for Gothika
This is guilty pleasure moviemaking that expects the audience to laugh at it.
A tense storyline and a well-realised performance from Berry make Gothika a nice addition, but there’s nothing that stands-out to make it anything more.
A promising first act crumbles under the weight of the second and third act's reliance on CGI and horror movie silliness.
French actor-filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz has misdirected his first American production so clumsily you wonder if the script got lost in translation.
Littered with clichés and lacking even a speck of originality, this gothic snoozer is yet another entry in the if-we-build-it-they-will-come horror sweepstakes.
... an effectively engineered thriller (if you) accept the B-movie psycho-babble and an ending that begs blind indulgence.
A B-level thriller with giant plot holes and lazy direction that pretends it's a real movie by casting A-list stars and getting a foreign art-house director to helm it.
There's nothing worse than watching an involving motion picture collapse into rubble before your eyes, and that's exactly what happens here.
A forgettably common fright flick wearing its psychological themes like a Halloween costume.
Stumbles in so many spots that it's even difficult to champion a claim for Berry being the best thing about it.
Miranda's patients may indeed be not guilty by reason of insanity, but Gothika is clearly guilty by reason of stupidity.
A terribly silly movie only slightly elevated by Berry's panicked performance.
the film doesn't just strain credulity, it viciously rends it into teeny tiny pieces and then dances upon it with wild abandon and maniacal glee
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