Gothika
 movie poster for Gothika | ||
| Starring | Halle Berry | |
| Directed by | Mathieu Kassovitz | |
| Produced by | Dark Castle Entertainment | |
| Written by | Sebastian Gutierrez | |
| Editing by | Yannick Kergoat | |
| Music by | John Ottman Lior Rosner | |
| Cinematography | Matthew Libatique | |
| Distributed by | - USA - Warner Bros. - non-USA- Columbia Pictures | |
| Released | November 21, 2003,(USA) | |
| Runtime | 98 min | |
| Country | USA | |
| language | English | |
| Budget | US$ 40 million (estimated) | |
| Website | http://gothikamovie.com | |
| AMG Info | All Movie Guide | |
| IMDB Info | 0348836 on IMDb | |
Gothika, a 2003 horror / supernatural thriller movie directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and written by Sebastian Gutierrez is the story of a psychiatrist (played by Halle Berry) in a women's prison who wakes up one day to find herself on the other side of the bars, accused of having murdered her husband.
The film was first released on 13 November 2003 in the USA and later in 2004 outside of the USA.
Brief Synopsis
Dr. Miranda Grey (Halle Berry) is a prominent psychiatrist working at a mental hospital. On her way home from work one day, she narrowly misses hitting a girl in the middle of the road. The next thing Miranda knows, several days have passed, she is a patient in the very hospital she once worked for, and stands accused of murdering her husband. Miranda fights to convince her former co-workers of her sanity and her innocence while she struggles to regain her lost memories.
Detailed Synopsis
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Gothika is the story of a psychiatrist, Dr. Miranda Grey, who works at a mental hospital and has a car accident after trying to avoid a girl on a road during a stormy night, while driving back home. She rushes to try to help the girl, who turns out to be a ghost. The girl, in turn, gets possession of Miranda's body by burning her after she extended her hand to the girl.
Miranda next wakes up in the very hospital she works for, but as a patient. Drugged and confused, she remembers nothing of what happened after the car accident. To her horror, she learns that her husband was brutally murdered and that she is the primary suspect.
While she tries to get by in the hospital, the ghost uses Miranda's body to carry out messages (most noticeably, she carves the words "not alone" into Miranda's arm) which leads the other doctors to believe Miranda is suicidal and is inflicting the wounds on herself.
Meanwhile, Miranda bonds with one of her former patients (who is now her fellow inmate), Chloe (Penélope Cruz). Several times in sessions, Chloe had claimed that she'd been raped while in the hospital, but Miranda had always attributed these stories to mental illness. She realizes that Chloe is not crazy and was not making the stories up, and the two embrace, with Chloe warning Miranda that her attacker was going to target Miranda next.
Miranda begins regaining some of her memories bit by bit, and slowly comes to remember herself killing her husband. She discovers that the ghost had used her body to murder Miranda's husband- so all of the evidence points to her.
Eventually, Miranda escapes the hospital, having recognized the girl as a ghost- she has also discovered that the girl, as well as one of Miranda's former patients and many other teenaged girls, had been raped and murdered by her husband (she actually finds a video of her husband raping and torturing one) and the local sheriff (John Carroll Lynch), who was still alive.
Miranda returns to the hospital in order to tell her old friend Pete (Robert Downey Jr.) and to save Chloe from the sheriff. Miranda is then attacked by the local sheriff, who tries to kill her. However, Miranda kills the sheriff in an act of self defense, with the help of the ghost.
After proving their innocence and sanity, Miranda and her patient are released from the asylum a few months later. Miranda claims to be free of the ghost's influence, but finds that she still sees ghosts, one as a young boy standing in the middle of the road.
Awards
Won
2004 - Teen Choice Awards
- Choice Movie Actress - Drama/Action Adventure - Halle Berry
Nominated
2004 Black Reel Awards
- Best Actress - Halle Berry
2004 Golden Trailer Award
- Best Horror/Thriller
2004 - Image Awards
- Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture - Halle Berry
- Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture - Charles S. Dutton
2004 - Kids' Choice Awards, USA
- Favorite Movie Actress - Halle Berry
2004 - MTV Movie Awards
- Best Female Performance - Halle Berry
2004 - Teen Choice Awards
- Choice Movie – Thriller
External links
- Review Gothika at the Internet Movie Database
- Filmcritic.com review
- Halle Berry interview for Gothika
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