REVIEW: FlatlinersBy Quinn OxleyOctober 1, 2017As September comes to a close, I find myself looking back on the month I so eagerly anticipated and languishing in its mediocrity. It was lovely; mother! was a visual assault; Kingsman was an immense disappointment; and now, Flatliners.

Have you ever wondered what happens after you die? Well, you still will.

Medical student Courtney Holmes (Ellen Page) one day brings her friends Jamie (James Norton) and Sophia (Kiersey Clemons) to the hospital basement and asks them, for scientific purposes, to stop her heart. What ensues is, at first, an “awakening” of sorts, as one by one Courtney’s friends try “flatlining” and experience its drug-like euphoria - and then, unexpectedly, its dire consequences.

It started off with so much potential. So much. Flatliners had such an intriguing first act (as a sci-fi/thriller… is anyone really calling this a horror movie?) with characters I cared to see succeed and which made me increasingly skeptical of the film’s follow-up act. “They’ve gotten me this far; they just have to build on what they’ve gotten.” Apparently that was too much to ask.

This movie was extremely disappointing.

If you like cautionary tales about taking responsibility for your actions, but you like them without subtlety or nuance or creativity or charm beyond the first act, you’ll love Flatliners.

Rating: 3/10

2016 © ScreenFellas Entertainment