Gothika
Warner Home Video | Release Date: November 21, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
38
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
23
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
PremiereLaine Ewen
Gothika deserves credit for embracing the ghost story genre so whole-heartedly, but as any ten-year-old girl can tell you, there's nothing original here to see. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterMichael 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
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Comes from the same jolly homage-to-schlock-shock producers who remade ''House on Haunted Hill,'' and the emphasis is shamelessly on ornate scares. But with its high-gloss cast and French art-house actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz (''Hate'') in charge, the movie also shoots for class. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Given her (Halle Berry) biggest part since winning Oscar, she responds with a zeal that's more than the movie deserves. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Great cast, great atmosphere, little sense or first-rate suspense. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames 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
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
May try to revive the eerie spirit of the Gothic novel, but, unless you're suffering from amnesia yourself, it probably won't surprise or thrill you. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Gothika was supposed to provide proof that she (Berry) could carry a film as a leading lady, but it doesn't. That's not entirely her fault, since nobody can fetch a drink of water in a sieve. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
If you try hard enough, you might be able to forget that the story doesn't make a lot of sense or provide adequate thrills, although it tries to scare you a couple of times in the cheapest possible way. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
For those who want nothing more than a thorough scare, Gothika is effective. But for those of us who want some psychological insight with our frightfests, the film is sadly lacking. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
The movie gets a mild boost when her escape briefly takes it from just another crummy supernatural thriller into an OK escape melodrama, albeit one dependent on a whopper of an unlikely occurrence. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
There must be something about the thriller/horror genre that attracts writers with exactly the same dysfunctional tendencies: They're all great at the foreplay but keep on messing up the climax. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Silly stuff, made all the more regrettable by the apparent skill with which the movie was made everywhere but in the screenplay department. The sheer lunkheadedness of Sebastian Gutierrez's script is impossible to ignore. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
Kassovitz can't control the ridiculous script and messy tone. And though it's not exactly hard to watch Berry run around in a hospital robe (Cruz and Berry: That's one good-looking mental ward), it's not particularly profound. Read full review
40
EmpireAdam Smith
Gothika never delivers anything more than the occasional, cynically engineered jolt and often drifts close to provoking giggles. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubNathan 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
40
VarietyDavid Rooney
Hampered by thinly developed characters and pedestrian plotting. Read full review
40
Village VoiceDavid Ng
Quickly abandoning the psychological for the supernatural, the movie collapses its premise into one painfully derivative pitch. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Ms. Berry works hard in her role, generating some excitement in the course of her distress. But the story's convolutions can't cover a deficit of substance, or sense.
40
SalonStephanie Zacharek
More of a women's-prison movie than a supernatural thriller, and not a very good one at that. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
A film that is long on atmosphere, but short on smarts: Plot points are easily unraveled 20 minutes in advance (no fun sleuthing for the audience here), the ending is an unsatisfying pastiche off too many horror tropes, and it would take a week to plug all of Gothika’s gaps in logic. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
A gloomy-doomy ghost story that gets off to a creepy start and then spirals into flat-out preposterousness. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Dopey, violent horror thriller. Read full review
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