Five medical students try to stop their hearts for sixty seconds in Flatliners, a 2017 horror film that wants to scare you with the afterlife. It doesn’t quite land.
Trailer, via Arrow Video.
The Premise
Courtney, played by Elliot Page, leads the group into a hospital room where they stop each other’s hearts to record their brains during near-death experiences. The setup is smart. The execution isn’t.
What Goes Wrong
The film repeats the mistakes of the 1990 version it remakes. Critics noted the same problems, and they’re visible here too:
- The premise is interesting.
- The premise is wasted.
- The scares don’t add up to horror.
- The ending feels rushed.
The Near-Death Visions
Each student sees something tied to their past sins. Courtney sees her dead sister Tessa. Jamie sees the baby he begged his ex-girlfriend to abort. Marlo sees a patient named Cyrus she killed by mistake. Sophia sees Irina, whose life she ruined to become valedictorian.
These visions are the film’s best moments. They’re personal, specific, and they could carry the whole picture if the script let them breathe.
The Ghost
Courtney dies after being pushed off a fire escape by her sister’s ghost. The others are left cleaning her apartment to hide evidence of the experiments.
“You haven’t lived until you’ve died.”
That tagline promises something bold. The film delivers a generic thriller instead.
The Cast
Elliot Page plays Courtney with a desperate intensity. Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, James Norton, and Kiersey Clemons round out the group. Kiefer Sutherland shows up as Dr. Barry Wolfson, the doctor who helps revive Courtney after her first flatline.
None of it’s enough to save the movie.
Where It Falls Short
The film can’t decide what kind of story it wants to be. It’s a horror movie, a drama, and a thriller all at once, none of them very well. The pacing drags in the middle, then rushes through the finale.
The Verdict
Flatliners has a strong idea. It doesn’t have the courage to sit with that idea. Instead it cuts away from the uncomfortable truths its own premise demands.
It’s a film about facing death that can’t face its own failure.
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