Gothika

Name: Gothika
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Horror
Released: November 21, 2003
Duration: 98 min
Rating: 38
Cast: Halle Berry, Penélope Cruz, Robert Downey Jr.

2003

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 86 Ratings

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6.6

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6.6	Your Score
6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 86 Ratings

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Gothika

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Movie Details & Credits

Warner Home Video | Release Date: November 21, 2003 | R

Starring: Halle Berry, Penélope Cruz, Robert Downey Jr.

Summary: This supernatural thriller is the chilling tale of a brilliant psychiatrist (Berry) who experiences an unwelcome awakening when she is accused of committing a heinous murder she cannot remember. (Warner Bros.)

Director: Mathieu Kassovitz

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Horror

Rating: R

Runtime: 98 min

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Metascore

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Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Sean Axmaker

Kassovitz directs with an unrelenting intensity that helps you to suspend disbelief almost all the way to the credits. Read full review

James Berardinelli

A plot that insults, betrays, and cheats every member of the audience. Stupidity to a degree can sometimes be forgiven. Stupidity to this degree can not and should not. Read full review

Michael Rechtshaffen

For a while there, Mathieu Kassovitz's atmospherically charged direction sucks the viewer into the story's hellish vortex. That is until the film becomes possessed by an increasingly ludicrous beyond-the-grave element from which there is no rational return. Read full review

Stephanie Zacharek

More of a women's-prison movie than a supernatural thriller, and not a very good one at that. Read full review

Nathan Rabin

While stylistic excess keeps Gothika mildly diverting, though suspense-and horror-free, Kassovitz can't do anything to keep the film's ending from degenerating into camp. Read full review

Jack Mathews

French director Mathieu Kassovitz Frenches this flimsy tale to death. No scene goes underplayed, no performance (save one, from Robert Downey Jr.) lacks volume, no horror cliche is forgotten. Read full review

Lou Lumenick

The movie spins further and further into coincidence and incoherence. Read full review

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User Reviews

cameronmorewood

Nov 17, 2012

If you are able to identify with Halle Berry's character and truly feel everything she feels, then this film plays on your emotions with an exhilaratingly force. If not, the film will seem scattershot and its mistakes will be all the more obvious. It all depends on perception.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

cilincescu

Nov 9, 2012

This a super intense and heavy film, with good actors and good playing.
Of course there are some issues that are questionable, but overall the film is very good.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

LearnFrenchWithGilbertMulroneycakes

May 9, 2004

Lots of dumb. Lots and lots and lots and lots of dumb. And on that level, lots and lots and lots and lots of fun as well. It's not very "good" in the classical sense, but you can't review a film in any terms but its own, and on the level it's shooting for - the juxtaposition Lots of dumb. Lots and lots and lots and lots of dumb. And on that level, lots and lots and lots and lots of fun as well. It's not very "good" in the classical sense, but you can't review a film in any terms but its own, and on the level it's shooting for - the juxtaposition of lots o'dumb and lots o'fun - it pretty much hits the target. Not the sort of thing that should have Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz and Downey in it, though. Not the kind of movie you'd pay the price of cinema tickets to see, either. One to rent (but not from Blockbuster), ideally on a dark and stormy night, in a darkened room with a truckload of popcorn and your girlboy next to you - because there's even a little bit of the Bruised Forearm factor going on here, and that's never a bad thing.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

Will

Aug 11, 2011

The first half of "Gothika" is great. John Ottmin's soundtrack combined with Matthew Libatique's cinematography and Kassovitz's direction helped create very creepy atmospheric tension. Although some may find her constant screaming excessive, Halle Berry's acting was great throughout theThe first half of "Gothika" is great. John Ottmin's soundtrack combined with Matthew Libatique's cinematography and Kassovitz's direction helped create very creepy atmospheric tension. Although some may find her constant screaming excessive, Halle Berry's acting was great throughout the whole movie. There were a lot of scenes that tried to jump scare you, but none of them worked. There is no gore (with the exception of several cuts on arms, and blood writing on walls), so the movie relies on creepiness alone, and most of that is gone by the third act. There is a contrived plot twist near the end, and another very obvious (yet still ridiculous) one. There are loads of plot holes in "Gothika", and a rushed and unsatisfying conclusion. However, before the third act, I nevertheless had good time.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Pirante

Dec 6, 2018

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The frustrating thing about a movie like Gothika is that there are some really good elements, and some really interesting ideas, that are never fully realized and this leaves you, the watcher, with a sense of disappointment. The premise of the movie - a former psychiatric doctor finds herself in the position as patient after committing a heinous crime - is an interesting hook and something that draws your attention immediately. The first act of the movie is incredibly strong in which the patients delusions coupled with memory loss really show how helpless the position 'clinically insane' is. It also demonstrates how such places, like psychiatric hospitals, can contribute and almost lead, to a worsening of said delusions. I Also think it was one of the better portrayals of mental illness - say what you want about Halle Berry but she plays the role well and the sense of confusion and hopelessness in the patient is done well. My biggest criticism of the movie, and this will sound strange considering it is billed as a horror movie, are the supernatural elements. The psychiatrist/patient being guided by a ghost to solve the eventual crime is a really, really weak story line and would have worked better if the 'ghost' acted as a mere hallucination in response to the trauma of finding out the truth about her partner. It is, I suppose, passable at first but, as the movie proceeds, it becomes more and more ludicrous until it loses all credibility and, at that point, so to does the movie. There was an opportunity here to create a really powerful piece of cinema focusing on mental illness, society's treatment of it, and the sort of triggers for said illness. Instead the supernatural element is just pushed to excess which, rather than building on the strong start to the movie, weakens it significantly. There are many ludicrous moments but the alarming ease in which our protagonist is able to escape a mental institution is laughable and by far the worst. The movie, again and again, veers toward a Hollywood style movie when its best points are the moments when it resists such temptations. Sadly this stylistic choice becomes more and more obvious until the 3rd act reverts completely to type in order to wrap everything up in a nice, neat package. There are some really great elements in this movie but they are lost amidst the clamour for a more commercially acceptable movie and, sadly, the movie suffers as a result. The potential here is huge and, if this was made into a straight up psychological thriller (without the supernatural elements), could have been something very interesting. Instead interest wanes quickly and, by the last third of the movie, you may wonder why you even bother to continue watching. I can't imagine people who love horror movies being all that enamoured with this offering; I can't imagine people who love psychological thrillers being all that enamoured with this offering - this movie was too afraid to either be straight up horror or straight up thriller and as a result we get a confusing mess which tries to be both, but never really succeeds in being either. I suspect the rating (12+) merely contributed to this mess and, as a result, an opportunity for a really great movie is passed by. It is worth watching one time but I can almost guarantee that you will not come back for a second helping - and why would you? Any suspense or ambiguity is completely stamped out of the movie by the end, and this heavy handed approach to the story is perhaps the biggest issue this movie has.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

RitaP.

Feb 15, 2006

Not bad as a horror movie/ supernatural thriller but not a film you would watch again.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

supermann234

Dec 30, 2014

This is a horrible horror film, as it is not scary, dull and boring. This is extremely bad, as it fails to deliver suspense and does not make you feel interested in this film. Overall, this is a bad movie.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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93	#93 Most Discussed Movie of 2003
98	#98 Most Shared Movie of 2003