Flatliners (2017 film)
| Flatliners | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
Theatrical release poster
| |
| Directed by | Niels Arden Oplev |
| Produced by | |
| Written by | Ben Ripley |
| Based on | Flatliners by Peter Filardi |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Nathan Barr[2] |
| Cinematography | Eric Kress |
| Edited by | Tom Elkins |
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release date
|
|
Running time
| 110 minutes[4] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $19 million[5] |
| Box office | $44.5 million[5] |
Flatliners is a 2017 American science fiction psychological horror film directed by Niels Arden Oplev and written by Ben Ripley. The film is a remake of the 1990 film of the same name, and stars Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, James Norton, Kiersey Clemons and Kiefer Sutherland. It follows five medical students who attempt to conduct experiments that produce near-death experiences. Sony Pictures released the film in the United States on September 29, 2017.
Contents
[hide]Plot[edit]
A medical student, Courtney (Ellen Page), is obsessed with the idea of the afterlife, wanting to find out what happens after death. She invites fellow students Jamie (James Norton) and Sophia (Kiersey Clemons) to join her in an experiment, in an unused hospital room: using defibrillation to stop her heart for sixty seconds whilst recording her brain, and then reviving her. She assures them they would not be held responsible for any accidents. Sophia is against this, but Jamie does it anyway. After sixty seconds, they panic as they are unable to revive her, but eventually manage to with the help of Ray (Diego Luna). Later, Marlo (Nina Dobrev) arrives and learns of the experiment.
Initially Courtney begins to recall memories of past events such as her grandmother's recipe for bread. Courtney experiences increased intelligence and euphoria, being suddenly able to play the piano after 12 years and answer questions in class perfectly. Envious, Jamie flatlines, but has a disturbing near death experience as he meets his ex-girlfriend. Courtney and Jamie start seeing visions, but do not tell the others. Marlo and Sophia follow suit and flatline, for an increasing number of minutes. They experience similar positive results as Courtney.
It soon turns into a living horror as those who flatlined find themselves haunted by visions: Courtney is haunted by her dead sister Tessa from a car crash she caused because she was using her phone. Jamie is haunted by the baby of his ex-girlfriend he got pregnant and begged into getting an abortion. Marlo is haunted by a man named Cyrus (who was stung by jellyfish) whom she killed when she accidentally mixed up his medication, and Sophia is haunted by a girl named Irina whose life she ruined out of jealousy by hacking her phone and sending out her nudes to make sure she was valedictorian. They realise there is a downside to flatlining.
Ray, the only one who didn't flatline, initially disbelieves what's happening. He tells everyone to stop the experiment immediately. The hauntings get more and more intense. Courtney, traumatised by her visions, records a message apologising for the consequences and admitting that her interest in flatlining was due to the death of her sister, not for scientific discovery. Shortly after, she is chased by visions of her dead sister and falls to her death from the roof of her house after her sister's ghost appears in front of her and pushes her off. Marlo is suffocated while driving and crashes her car. Jamie is stabbed in the hand by his vision.
Marlo retrieves Courtney's phone that was found at the scene of her death. They watch Courtney's recording and find out that she had encountered similar hauntings. They come clean to the mistakes that they made and soon come to a conclusion that the hauntings they're experiencing are their hallucinations because of their guilt from their past sins, not paranormal beings.
The group takes action to stop the hallucinations by fixing their past mistakes. Sophia visits Irina to apologize to which Irina accepts. Jamie visits his ex-girlfriend and discovers she didn't get an abortion, but kept the baby; he apologizes and promises to provide for his son. Later, Ray and Marlo get into a fight when Ray finds out Marlo covered up the real reason how Cyrus died. Tired of being haunted by her hallucinations, Marlo flatlines on her own in the hope of killing herself because she cannot fix her mistake. Ray, Sophia, and Jamie rush to stop her and are successful. In the end, Marlo, Ray, Sophia, and Jamie reminisce about Courtney and celebrate their friendships in the little restaurant they hang out at, where there is a performance of the piano piece that Courtney played.
Cast[edit]
- Ellen Page as Courtney Holmes[6]
- Diego Luna as Ray[6]
- Nina Dobrev as Marlo[6]
- James Norton as Jamie[6]
- Kiersey Clemons as Sophia[6]
- Kiefer Sutherland as Dr. Barry Wolfson
- Beau Mirchoff as Brad[7]
- Madison Brydges as Tessa Holmes
- Miguel Anthony as Cyrus Gudgeon
- Jenny Raven as Irina Wong
- Charlotte McKinney as Girl on Bicycle
Sutherland also starred in the original film, and was initially announced to be reprising his role as Dr. Nelson Wright from the original.[8]
Production[edit]
In October 2015, Ellen Page was cast in the film,[9] and in February 2016, Diego Luna was added as well,[10] with Nina Dobrev joining in April.[11] In May 2016, Kiersey Clemons and James Norton signed on for the film.[12][13]
In July 2016, it was announced that Kiefer Sutherland, who starred in the original, would return in the new film.[14] Sutherland later disclosed that he was reprising his role from the original film, adding that the new film is actually a sequel rather than a remake.[8] Despite the announcement, Sutherland played a character with a different name than in the original, with no reference to the specific events of the previous film.[citation needed] In July 2016, Charlotte McKinney also joined the cast.[15]
Principal photography began in early July 2016 in Toronto,[16][17] and concluded on September 7.[citation needed] The film went into post-production on October 4.[18]
Release[edit]
Sony Pictures released the film on September 29, 2017.[5]
Box office[edit]
Flatliners grossed $16.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $24.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $41.7 million, against a production budget of $19 million.[5]
In North America, the film was released alongside American Made and 'Til Death Do Us Part, as well as the wide expansion of Battle of the Sexes, and was projected to gross $8–12 million from 2,552 theaters in its opening weekend.[19] It ended up debuting to $6.6 million, finishing 5th at the box office; even before factoring in inflation, the number was lower than the $10 million opening of the original film in 1990.[20] In its second weekend the film dropped 42%, grossing $3.6 million.[21]
Critical response[edit]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 5% based on 64 reviews and an average rating of 3.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Flatliners falls flat as a horror movie and fails to improve upon its source material, rendering this reboot dead on arrival."[22] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 27 out of 100 based 20 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[23]Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.[20][24]
Home media[edit]
Flatliners was released on Digital HD on December 12, 2017, and on Blu-ray and DVD on December 19, 2017 in Canada, and on December 26, 2017 in the United States.[25][26]
No comments:
Post a Comment