Parents' Guide to Fear of Rain

It stumbles over pieces that don't fit together too well, but the thoughtful, sympathetic treatment of its main character and her illness, and some solid tension, put this thriller just over the top. Written and directed by Castille Landon, Fear of Rain puts plenty of thought into the condition of schizophrenia, showing Rain participating in therapy sessions, discussing the things she's experiencing, and reacting to the various medications she must take ("it makes me feel like a zombie"). Kids at school treat her like an outcast, and she's forever explaining that she doesn't have multiple personalities (a common misconception).

If you think about it too hard, using Rain's condition and its visual and auditory hallucinations as fodder for a few thrills and a "twist" toward the end can seem a little dishonest, somewhat cheapening Rain's struggle. But since Fear of Rain is shown primarily from Rain's point of view, her condition and the movie's plot devices can somewhat meld together; we see what Rain sees. Iseman is terrific in her role, and Broussard (who also helped a character with a supernatural conundrum in the Happy Death Day movies) adds to the movie as likable nerd Caleb, who does magic tricks with tarot cards, fixes cars, and studies quantum mechanics.