Plot

Criminal psychologist Dr. Miranda Grey knows what’s rational. Logical. Sane. Under the direction of her husband, the chief administrator of the psychiatric ward at the Woodward Penitentiary for Women, Miranda treats dangerously disturbed patients like Chloe, a charismatic murderess whose confessions of satanic torture are dismissed as the outpourings of a paranoid mind. But Miranda’s comfortable marriage and stable life are put in jeopardy after a cryptic encounter with a mysterious young girl leads to a nightmare beyond her wildest imaginings. When Miranda awakens from it, she finds herself confined to Woodward alongside the patients she used to treat. Worse, her husband has been murdered – and the evidence points straight at her.  Her claims of innocence are seen by her former colleagues as the beginnings of a deep descent into madness. Forced to rely on her instincts instead of facts, Miranda begins to believe that she’s in the grip of a supernatural force determined to exact revenge on her by striking at her sanity.

Memorable Lines

Miranda: I’m not deluded, Pete, I’m possessed.
Pete: I don’t believe in ghosts.
Miranda: Neither do I, but they believe in me.

****

Chloe: You have no idea how it feels not to be trusted.
Miranda: You’ve got to trust me too, Chloe.
Chloe: You can’t trust someone who thinks you’re crazy.

****

Chloe: Are you scared?
Miranda: …No.
Chloe: You should be.

****

Miranda: I am a rational person. I believe in science. I don’t believe in the paranormal, and I don’t believe in ghosts. But if you are the ghost of Rachel Parsons, then you would let me out of this cell.

****

Thoughts from the HauntedHouses.com team

Poor Gothika can never figure out if it wants to be a supernatural nail-biter, a psychological nail-biter, or a murder mystery. In similar fashion its scenery is murky, dim, and dreary. There’s the dark and stormy night (check), the jump scares that actually keep the audience more annoyed than anything else (check), and the overbearing musical soundtrack (check) that misleads more than anything else.

The film is advertised as a horror thriller when it’s really just a rather routine supernatural melodrama with a little violence thrown in.

We don’t mean to be too unkind to Penelope Cruz, but we still aren’t sure what purpose she serves here. Her sole function in the movie seems to be to help spread the mayhem around. There’s no denying Halle Berry’s acting chops, but they alone cannot overcome the preposterous storytelling.

The rest of the cast also flounders. Robert Downey Jr.’s acting is squandered in a bit supporting part, while the highly capable Bernard Hill is used only briefly as a plot device before being discarded halfway through the film.

“Gothika” eventually loses track of what it’s trying to say and the second half of the film is a trainwreck of unanswered and impossible questions, starting with the meaning of the title. What does it mean? We have no idea.

The truly frightening part of this movie? The ending that leaves the door open for a sequel.

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