Gothika

''Gothika'' is a 2003 American psychological horror-thriller film directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, written by Sebastian Gutierrez, and produced by Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis. It stars Halle Berry in the lead role, with Robert Downey Jr., Penélope Cruz, Charles S. Dutton, John Carroll Lynch, and Bernard Hill. The film follows a psychiatrist who finds herself incarcerated in the penitentiary in which she works, accused of brutally murdering her husband.

The fourth project developed by production company Dark Castle Entertainment, following 2002's ''Ghost Ship'', ''Gothika'' was the second film by the company to be co-distributed by Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures, the first being '' Thirteen Ghosts''. It was also the first feature by Dark Castle to boast a number of high-profile stars in its lead roles. This was the American directorial debut of Kassovitz.

''Gothika'' was shot in Montreal, Quebec in the spring of 2003. It was released theatrically in the United States on November 21, 2003, the Friday before Thanksgiving. The film grossed $141.6 million internationally, though it received generally negative reviews from critics.

Plot

Dr. Miranda Grey, a psychiatrist at Woodward Penitentiary in rural western Connecticut, crashes her car one night on a country road to avoid hitting a young woman. When she awakens, she finds herself an inmate of the women's ward in which she works, receiving treatment from her colleague, Dr. Pete Graham. Pete reveals that her husband, Douglas, has been the victim of a brutal axe murder, and she is the sole suspect. As Miranda attempts to adjust to life as an inmate, she is haunted by visions of the young woman she saw the night of the car accident, and is attacked by her apparition; the woman carves the phrase "Not Alone" into Miranda's arm, though hospital staff presume she is self-harming.

Miranda bonds with fellow inmate Chloe Sava, whom she treated before her incarceration. One night, she witnesses Chloe being raped and glimpses a tattoo of an Anima Sola on the perpetrator's chest, though the guards do not believe her. As time passes, she regains memories of the car accident. She identifies the mysterious woman as Rachel, the daughter of her superior, Dr. Phil Parsons, who had died in an apparent suicide several years prior. Late one night, Miranda is attacked by Rachel's ghost and escapes the hospital. She returns to her home and observes the crime scene. This triggers vivid memories of Miranda committing Douglas's murder.

Miranda visits Douglas' rural farmhouse in Rhode Island, hoping it will contain clues. In a cellar in the barn, she finds a blood-stained mattress, along with sedatives, restraints, and video recording equipment. One of the tapes is revealed to be a snuff film shot by Douglas, which shows him raping, torturing, and murdering a young woman. Police arrive, arresting Miranda and finding one of Douglas's victims, Tracey Seaver, still alive in the barn. Miranda realizes that Rachel possessed her to carry out the act and avenge Rachel's own murder by Douglas.

Incarcerated in the county jail, Miranda speaks to Sheriff Bob Ryan, Douglas' best friend, about her belief that Rachel's suicide was staged and a second perpetrator was involved. Using her expertise as a psychiatrist, she constructs a psychological profile of the second perpetrator and realizes it is Ryan, who then attempts to inject her with a sedative. In the struggle, she tears at his shirt, revealing the Anima Sola tattoo on his chest. She turns the syringe on Ryan before fleeing. In a drugged state, he pursues her, telling her that Rachel was their first victim, and he and Douglas worked together to abduct, rape, and murder local women. Rachel's apparition appears and Ryan shoots at it, causing an explosion that sets him ablaze. Miranda shoots the burned Ryan to death. Moments later, Pete arrives to save her, having realized the truth.

A year later, Miranda, now freed, walks with Chloe, also released, on a city sidewalk. After Chloe leaves, Miranda sees a young boy on the road who is about to be struck by a fire truck. However, the fire truck passes right through him and she realizes he is only a ghost, failing to notice the "Missing" flyer of the boy.

Cast

Production

The fourth feature film produced by Dark Castle Entertainment, ''Gothika'' was the first to boast a high-profile leading cast, and was the company's largest-scale production at the time, with a budget of approximately $40 million.

Berry was partly inspired to take the role because her mother, a nurse, worked in a psychiatric hospital for decades.

Filming took place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the spring of 2003. Shooting of Berry's sequences was temporarily halted for several weeks in May 2003, after Robert Downey Jr., while filming a tense scene with Berry, grabbed and twisted her arm, accidentally breaking it.

Soundtrack

The score's original music was composed by John Ottman and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. " Behind Blue Eyes" by Limp Bizkit (originally by The Who) was featured in the film but was not available on the soundtrack. The record was released on November 18, 2003, via Varèse Sarabande.

Release

''Gothika'' was released on November 21, 2003, in North America, grossing $19.3 million in the opening weekend and ranking at #2, behind ''The Cat in the Hat''. It went on to gross $59.7 million in the US and $81.9 million from foreign markets for a worldwide total of $141.6 million.

Critical response

The review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes gave ''Gothika'' a 15% approval rating based on 165 reviews and an average rating of 4.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Berry's acting talents can't save ''Gothika'' from its preposterous plot and bad dialogue." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 38 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

A more positive review came from Roger Ebert of ''The Chicago Sun-Times'', who gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. He wrote that "the plot is preposterous" but nonetheless felt that stylish direction and Berry's performance made ''Gothika'' enjoyable on its own "lurid" terms: "The casting of Halle Berry is useful to the movie because she evokes a vulnerable quality that triggers our concern. Hitchcock might have wanted to work with her. He didn't cast so much for acting ability as for an innate quality."

Home media

''Gothika'' was released on VHS and DVD by Warner Home Video on March 2, 2004. The initial DVD release was available in both widescreen and fullscreen editions. A two-disc special edition DVD, featuring additional documentaries and bonus features, was subsequently released in October 2004. The film was released on Blu-ray by Warner Bros. on September 25, 2007.

Accolades

See also

* List of ghost films

References

External links

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{{Dark Castle Entertainment

2003 films
2003 horror films
2000s ghost films
2000s horror thriller films
2000s psychological horror films
2003 psychological thriller films
2000s serial killer films
American ghost films
American horror thriller films
American psychological horror films
American psychological thriller films
American rape and revenge films
American serial killer films
American supernatural horror films
American supernatural thriller films
Columbia Pictures films
Dark Castle Entertainment films
English-language horror thriller films
Films about psychiatry
Films about spirit possession
Films directed by Mathieu Kassovitz
Films produced by Joel Silver
Films scored by John Ottman
Films set in Connecticut
Films set in psychiatric hospitals
Films shot in Montreal
Films with screenplays by Sebastian Gutiérrez (director)
Fiction about mariticide
Films about snuff films
Warner Bros. films
2000s English-language films
Films produced by Robert Zemeckis
2000s American films
English-language crime films
Teen Choice Award winning films