Flatliners (1990)
By Brian Costello,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
'90s thriller about near-death experiences is very violent.

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Flatliners (1990)
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What's the Story?
In FLATLINERS, Nelson (Kiefer Sutherland) is a hyperambitious medical student who believes he's discovered a way people can have near-death experiences, get a taste of the afterlife, and come back to life without suffering brain damage. He enlists the help of some of his fellow med students (played by Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin, and Oliver Platt) to help in his experiments. While they're wary, their ambition outweighs their skepticism, and at an abandoned museum, they plug in their medical equipment and help Nelson "die" and then come back to life. When Nelson returns, he is clearly changed but unable to fully comprehend the experience. The experiment takes an ugly turn when Nelson is visited by a young boy determined to physically attack him. Nelson does not tell his colleagues about the young boy until two more of the group -- David (Bacon) and Joe (Baldwin) -- explore their own afterlives and are forced to confront their own indiscretions. However, unlike the others, Rachel (Roberts) has a slightly different experience, but what they all realize is that to save themselves from what they have wrought, they must find a way to either atone for what they've done or find a way to let go, find peace, and move on.
Is It Any Good?
The timeless themes outweigh the dated style of Flatliners. In other words, while it's very much a movie rooted in 1990 in terms of noir attitude and questionable hair and eyewear choices, the desire to find the meaning in life and death, and how our sins and unresolved issues might come back to haunt us in the afterlife, remain as relevant as ever. Rather than seeing the afterlife as the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel," Flatliners explores the idea of the afterlife as atonement, a place where those we wronged get even. It walks a treacherous path as it explores this idea -- only one of the characters suffers the consequences for the conscious misdeeds of his young adulthood. The others are confronted by those they hurt when they were too young to know any better. There just wasn't enough time to explore the nuances of the debate in a feature-length film, but Flatliners certainly tries.
Some of the movie seems forced or gratuitous; Oliver Platt's character seems to only be there to freak out at the appropriately dramatic times, and Julia Roberts' character only seems to be there because they needed a woman to interact with the other four dudes, and she's considered "cold" because she won't sleep with them. Be that as it may, an unwieldy, potentially hydra-headed theme finds a manageable form through these characters' transgressions and unpleasant memories and provides a unique take on life after death.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Flatliners explores themes of life and death, atonement, and making peace with difficult moments from one's past. What does the movie say about these topics, and how does it express these ideas?
How realistically do you think the movie conveyed the stresses and intense competition of medical school?
Was the violence necessary to drive home the points of the movie, or did it feel forced to add excitement to the story?
Movie Details
- In theaters: August 10, 1990
- On DVD or streaming: June 17, 2014
- Cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon
- Director: Joel Schumacher
- Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment
- Genre: Thriller
- Run time: 114 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- Last updated: April 1, 2023
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