Gothika
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this movie.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this movie has intense peril and disturbing, graphic, and grisly images of violence. There are references to extremely violent crimes. There is nudity in a scene of a group shower and a joke about circumcision. Characters use very strong language. One positive note is the portrayal of a strong, intelligent, resourceful black woman.
Community Reviews
A thilling thiller
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What's the Story?
In GOTHIKA, Dr. Miranda Gray (Halle Berry) is a psychiatrist at a facility for the criminally insane. The director of the facility is her husband, Doug (Charles S. Dutton). Driving home on a dark and stormy night, Miranda swerves to avoid hitting a girl standing in the road. When she gets out of the car, she sees that the girl is badly hurt. Miranda tries to talk to her. The next thing she knows, she wakes up in the mental hospital, but now she is on the other side of the glass wall. She is a patient. Doug has been murdered, and all of the evidence points to Miranda as the killer. How can she find out what really happened if everyone thinks she is crazy?
Is It Any Good?
Director Mathieu Kassovitz creates a nicely creepy feeling with Gothika, though he overdoes the flickering lights and the guess-what's-just-out-of-our-field-of-vision surprises. But the last half and especially the last half hour are both predictable and preposterous. When Miranda explains that "Logic is overrated" in the middle of a climactic confrontation, it feels like a last-minute attempt to justify the resolution of a movie that begins as a promisingly creepy thriller but then falls apart.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Pete's comment that "the ability to repress is actually a vital survival tool." What other survival tools did Miranda demonstrate?
Movie Details
- In theaters: November 20, 2003
- On DVD or streaming: March 22, 2004
- Cast: Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz, Robert Downey Jr.
- Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
- Studio: Warner Bros.
- Genre: Thriller
- Run time: 95 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: violence, brief language and nudity
- Last updated: December 16, 2022
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Great, but sometimes scarier than R-rated horror.
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