Flatliners

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A group of medical students (played by Ellen Page, Diego Luna, James Norton, Nina Dobrev, and Kiersey Clemons) try to find out what happens after a person dies. It’s a remaek of the 1990 film starring Kiefer Sutherland and Julia Roberts. No, I haven’t seen the original movie. As I was watching, I felt this nagging feeling eating away at me. It didn’t take long before I realized this was just bad. Twenty minutes into the movie, the plot actually starts, and they try having this moment tension to make you the main character might not make it. Why do they do this? I don’t know, maybe because they know the movie sucks. It wastes a talented cast on a boring, plodding movie. Part of the problem could be that, at first, Ellen Page (a very talented actress) doesn’t seem like she’s interested at all. She shows more emotion and gets better as the movie goes on. There are attempts at humor sprinkled throughout, and they almost all fall flat. It also sucks because she’s the character with the most development, and it’s thin at best. Kiersey Clemons, Nina Dobrev, James Norton, and Kiefer Sutherland are the only people who actually feel like they’re legitimately trying. Their characters have equally thin development, but these actors are trying to put emotion into their roles Diego Luna is one of those actors I really have yet to be fully impressed by. He was the weak link in Rogue One, and I don’t think he was particularly good in this either. The horror element of the movie also doesn’t work because it relies on lazy jump scares far too often. One thing that happens in this movie is that the characters who flatline find themselves being haunted by their mistakes. Now, this is an idea that could work had this movie been better. The problem is it comes out of nowhere, and you can’t guess what’s happening until you’re flat out told. Rather, it doesn’t make much sense. Scenes in this movie feel like they go nowhere. The main characters drive away from the police (for reasons), and they end up at a party. This party doesn’t serve any actual purpose beyond having an attractive young cast. As if I couldn’t say it enough, this movie sucks.

2 / 10