Review: Gothika (2005)

Halle Berry (X-Men, Catwoman) plays the accomplished Miranda Gray. Gray is a psychologist at an institution for the criminally insane. She is seemingly "above" her patients and observes them as a typical clinician would. Chloe (Penelope Cruz) is an inmate who is violent and unstable with Dr. Gray.

Gray is also married to the Administrator of the hospital, played by Charles S. Dutton. Gray finishes her work day and starts home in a hard storm. She finds she must take a detour due to the rain.

She barely misses a girl standing in the road and wrecks her vehicle. She climbs out, runs to the crying girl, and is suddenly knocked out.

When she regains consciousness, three days have passed and she is a patient at the same hospital she worked at. Suddenly, she's imprisoned because she stands accused of brutally murdering her husband. She has no motive and no understanding as to what actually happened.

Chloe now becomes her only friend and the professionals she worked with now regard her with the same dismissive apathy as all other patients.

Gray begins to notice supernatural events she'd never encountered previously. The girl who caused her to wreck continues to follow her. In a great "gaslighting" series of events, she learns there is more happening inside the walls of the hospital than she ever imagined.

The events climax when she discovers the truth behind that night and behind her husband's life.

Ghoulish Details:

Both Berry and Cruz gave stellar performances in this movie. The events occur early in the movie and the pacing is great. Little momentum is lost between the initial events and the discoveries at the end of the move.

This is another film by Dark Castle , William Castle's company.

The film ends with a twist, but all-in-all is a good horror movie.

Ghoulish Rating: 5 (out of 6)

Trivia:

* Both Berry and Cruz played the majority of their roles without make-up.

* Gaslighting is an age-old term that goes back to black-and-white movies. This is a set of circumstances geared to make someone believe they're losing their mind.