Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) is a psychologist in a state mental institution for female criminals. Her husband, Doug (Charles Dutton) also works there as a senior psychologist. Miranda is currently working with Chloe (Penelope Cruz), who has been committed after killing her stepfather. Chloe insists that the devil is visiting her in her cell and raping her, but Miranda is convinced that Chloe is having flashbacks to sexual abuse by her stepfather.
Three days later, Miranda herself is waking up in the asylum – this time as an inmate. She has no recollection of the past three days, and the last thing she remembers is a car accident on the way home from work one night. As she comes to, she is visited by her friend Dr. Pete Graham (Robert Downey Jr.) who tells her that she has been accused of a terrible crime. Slowly, parts of the evening come back to her, and she has flashes of a distressed teenage girl standing on a bridge. And then Miranda’s nightmare really begins as she tries to make sense of what has happened.
Gothika starts off well. The dark, brooding mental asylum, with its imposing grey architecture, raging thunderstorms and frequent power cuts and flickering, buzzing electric lights is the ideal backdrop for a chilling, suspenseful movie. There is always something chilling about these kinds of places anyway,
and it is used to full effect with it being clear from the outset that something sinister is going to happen.
Unfortunately, as the film goes on, it becomes clear that it is absolutely nothing new as the director forsakes the opportunities to build the suspense through visual effects in the asylum and resorts instead to the now over-used formula of making the audience jump through ghostly images appearing where we (supposedly) least expect it. The problem is that this formula has been done to death since films such as “The Sixth Sense” and “What Lies Beneath” and anyone who is used to watching these kinds of films will be able to predict exactly where a scary image is about to appear. The other problem is that when watching this kind of film in the cinema, what are supposed to be scary moments are generally now followed by laughter as people respond to their friends’ reactions. This in itself makes it seem less scary and more laughable. If you are scared by this sort of thing then you probably will find the movie scary, but although it did make me jump a few times, I certainly didn’t think about it much after I’d left the cinema. This, for me, is a bad thing, as I find that the best horrors are those that make you think about it afterwards, allowing the horror to build in your mind. I am certainly a strong believer that horror is in the imagination, rather than a visual thing, and in this case I was left with nothing new to think about.
The storyline also borrows extensively from other films, particularly “What Lies Beneath” and, to a lesser extent, “The Ring” and “The Gift”. There is potential for a few nice twists, but instead we end up with something very predictable and unsurprising. It is almost as if two separate storylines have been contrived to be fitted together. I could not really work out the point of Penelope Cruz’s character, other than to provide an attractive friend for Miranda inside the asylum, and her rape storyline seems somewhat superfluous, with the perpetrator being worked out almost as an afterthought.
Indeed, there are numerous holes in the plot. We managed to identify at least three glaring inconsistencies before we had even left the cinema, and several more came to light later on. Without giving away too much of the story it is hard to explain the errors, but they did mean that I came away from the cinema thinking more about the feasibility of the events than the potential scariness of the movie. One thing in particular that irritated me was the fact that, on being haunted by the words “Not Alone”, Miranda says on no less than three separate occasions “That’s what Not Alone means!” – each time giving us a new explanation for the words. Maybe it did have multiple meanings, but again, I would have liked to have known more about this.
It also has something of an identity crisis: is it a psychological thriller? A supernatural horror? Or a crime movie? My preference would have been for a psychological thriller – but various opportunities to explore the psychology behind it all (bearing in mind the profession of three of the main characters) were completely missed – almost as if the film-makers felt the audience would not be intelligent enough to warrant this.
In terms of the actors’ performances, again there is nothing new. I couldn’t help but feel that this was simply a vehicle for Halle Berry to “do something new” and although we are fortunately spared any hammy horror acting from any of the cast, there are certainly no outstanding performances. There is, however, a good cameo from Bernard Hill of “Lord of the Rings” fame, as another senior member of staff at the asylum.
I wouldn’t go as far as to rate the film as poor, because it is not. It is a competent horror/chiller and in some ways should be commended for not resorting to too much blood and gore. Had it been made 5 years ago, it would have been innovative and probably would have been much talked about. Unfortunately, it has come along a few years too late, when we are all too familiar with the genre, and the format now seems tired and clichéd.
As a final point, I have absolutely no idea where the title of the film comes from. I was hoping this would become clear, but – like many other questions I had – this one remained unanswered.
“Gothika” is currently out at the cinema but I would not recommend that you waste time and money going to see it. If you are not tired of jumpy ghost stories, then you will probably enjoy it on DVD, particularly if there are any extra features that help to give more depth to the story, but be warned, there is absolutely nothing new or original here.
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a good enough idea in principle but trouble executing it fully i think - xara
jenni_a 09.05.2004 18:34
Hadn't got round to seeing this, it looked really good in the trailer but as I had expected according to most people it isnt what its being made out to be, I think I'll wait till its on box office, Great review, Jenni xx :O)
Mickie26 03.05.2004 21:05
Aww I fancied this one, but I'm not so sure after reading your review. Great review though.
The title ofGothikaprepares you for a spooky, atmospheric thriller with an emphasis on ... more
supernatural mystery. The best way to appreciate the movie itself is to understand that it's a waking nightmare that needn't make sense in the realm of sanity. Makin...
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The title ofGothikaprepares you for a spooky, atmospheric thriller with an emphasis on ... more
supernatural mystery. The best way to appreciate the movie itself is to understand that it's a waking nightmare that needn't make sense in the realm of sanity. Makin...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
A brilliant and respected criminal psychologist, Dr. Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) is an ... more
expert at knowing what is rational. What is logical. What is sane.But Miranda's comfortable and stable life are thrust into terrifying jeopardy after a cryptic encoun...
![Gothika [DVD] [2004]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78509296.jpg "Gothika [DVD] [2004]")
Apr 13th, 2004
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