Brain on Fire (2016)
Genre: Biography / Drama
Duration: 95 minuten
Country:
United States / Canada / Ireland
Directed by: Gerard Barrett
Stars: Chloë Grace Moretz, Richard Armitage and Carrie-Anne Moss
IMDb score:
6,6 (26.200)
Releasedate: 22 February 2017
Brain on Fire plot
"It's not supposed to happen. Be prepared when it does."
Susannah Cahalan, a journalist for the New York Post, is struggling with serious health problems. In the following weeks, her condition worsens in the form of catatonia. After numerous hospitalizations, a doctor finally arrives with a diagnosis in the hope that she can rebuild her life. Then one day Cahalan wakes up in the hospital and has no memory of how she got there.
Actors and actresses
Susannah Cahalan
Stephen Grywalski
Tom Cahalan
Rhona Nack
Margo
Richard
Allen
Giselle
Senator
Dr. Najjar
Reviews & comments
rep_robert
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- 27539 messages
- 4134 votes
The mystery surrounding the condition that Moretz has in her character is built up very well and full of suspense. I was constantly watching with tension and really wanted to know what happened and how it will continue. That feeling cannot be created without the cast and makers of the film putting in a good performance. Admittedly, it's weird to see such a young girl on an editorial board of a newspaper. But apparently it really happened. The farther Moretz sank, the more convincing it became.
How unfortunate it is that in the last ten minutes everything is rushed. The moment the doctor finally knows what's going on and tells the family it really misses the point. And the recovery only takes a few minutes....I think it's really bizarre that a film that grabs me so well ends up in such a disappointment.As far as I'm concerned they could have taken an extra fifteen minutes to finish the film to give a decent ending.
Director Barrett builds up the film fantastically, but lacks the finesse to eventually convince that conviction and turn it into a top film. That costs the film a point in my final rating. It's a shame, because I was totally into it until 90% of the movie.
3.0*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Black Math
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- 5430 messages
- 1753 votes
Nowadays, everyone who is sick and goes through a difficult period because of it, seems to write a book about it. In the case of the main character in this story, that's understandable; after all, writing is her profession. But the fact that an entire film has to be made about it afterwards feels somewhat exaggerated. I've never watched House, but I'm familiar with the concept of that series and I can relate to Film Pegasus's comment that this story is more seems to have its place in such a series. It is still quite thin for an entire feature film, which therefore spends a lot of time on the diagnosis. But yes, after the diagnosis there is also little to tell. In any case, it was nice that the director tried to show the impact of the illness on the main character through editing, but I've also seen that stronger. 2*.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico
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- 10039 messages
- 5398 votes
A gripping hospital drama about a young woman who suddenly struggles with neurological problems, but in which the medical world is puzzled as to what exactly is going on, let alone what the causes are.
The playing time is perfect and falls nicely within 90 minutes. The film manages to engage with the main character and the worried relatives. Since it is a biographical film and therefore the events are truthful, the story is what it is. Yet the tension and the oppressive atmosphere is certainly present in the living room.
It was also nice to see that the somewhat gruff and busy boss had a lot of patience with her and reacted empathically to her strange behavior. In other movies, such figures are the cliché of being heartless. Nice that Susannah later managed to write her story down for the outside world so that more attention was paid to this disease. This film also ultimately contributed to that.
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