I maintain the idea that Halle Berry is a good actress who often picks roles that aren't for her or roles in films that have horrible plots. Gothica is no different. I don't know what Halle was doing in this one. She was a monster in her role and at one point played her character having a hallucination of a flashback of herself being possessed. That's wild.
The film revolves around Dr. Miranda Grey. She's a psychiatrist treating a patient named Chloe who states the devil had been coming to her cell and raping her. Chloe was convicted of killing her step father but she claimed she was possessed. She also hurts herself frequently but again claims these are ghosts. Miranda thinks she's lying and her husband Dr. Dutton convinces her to pay Chloe no mind. While leaving she's approached by
Miranda wakes up in a cell at the psych ward and learns she killed her husband but doesn't believe it. While in the hospital she becomes tormented by ghosts of various dead women. One carves the words "not alone" in her arm the same thing at the crime scene. Eventually she escapes and discovers the meaning of those words as well as why the ghost killed her husband. She also tracks down a serial killer.
Halle Berry was incredible in this film. She out acted everyone. I don't care how much you like Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man he was the other lead for this film and she ran circles around his nonchalant and deadpan acting.
The only problem with this film was the plot was just ridiculous. We had serial killers working with serial rapists. Ghost possessions. Cops framing people for murder. Unrequited love. There's just a ton of stuff going on. If it had simply been about a psychiatrist framed for murder and locked in a psych ward trying to escape while questioning her sanity it would be great. There's just too much going on.
Halle killed this role and I mean it. The movie plays itself like a ghost thriller but the fear is more psychological. You wonder along with Miranda if she really is going crazy, especially with the last scene. I really can't stress just how good she was in this role. It just suffered from a plot that had too much going on for a film that only ran for an hour and a half.
If you're looking for a psychological thriller, this is for you. If you ever doubted Halle Berry's acting skills or wondered how she keeps getting big roles or films where 80% of the content is focused on her, this is for you. It's not a perfect film at all but Halle Berry's acting makes it good enough that you won't walk away disappointed and might actually enjoy this one.
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