Film Review: Flatliners (Reboot)

Genre: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi

Cert: 15 cert

Director: Niels Arden Oplev

Screenwriter: (story by) Peter Filardi, (screenplay by) Ben Ripley

Starring: Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, James Norton, Kiersey Clemons, Kiefer Sutherland, Madison Brydges, Jacob Soley, Anna Arden, Miguel Anthony, Jenny Raven, Beau Mirchoff, Charlotte McKinney, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Steve Byers 

Running time: 1h 50min

Parents advised reading before viewing a film as some scene may contain scenes unsuitable for younger viewers.

Sex & Nudity: (Mild) 

• A couple is seen engaged in the sexual act with thrusting motions visible, and where the woman is seen taking the man's hands and placing them over her bare breasts. No nudity is shown. 

Violence & Gore: (Moderate)

• Man brought in to hospital mess up blood is seen
• main character death

Profanity:  (Mild)

• Few F words but mild on language

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: (mild)

• Drinking is seen with main characters

Frightening/Intense Scenes:  

• Certain themes deal with lost and a creepy scene involving a child maybe be frightening for some viewers, violence and terror, sexual content, language, thematic material, and some drug references. 

Story: Medical students begin to explore the realm of near-death experiences, hoping for insights. Each has their heart stopped and is revived. They begin having flashes of walking nightmares from their childhood, reflecting sins they committed or had committed against them. The experiences continue to intensify, and they begin to be physically beaten by their visions as they try and go deeper into the death experience to find a cure.

Likes: In comparing this reboot to the original, it's easy to say the original film was better; it starts off with a great premise but falls flat by the second half. The acting is solid and the concept is good, but it’s a shame that the film seems to be missing that epic push it needs to be a good remake; the only things different from the original was the background story of each person. Some just didn't make sense.


The visual effects are brilliantly done, which adds to the film’s atmosphere. Some parts of this film get creepy, especially with Ellen Page, who plays Courtney. Haunted by a tragic past, she enters the realm of the dead after flatlining. Things become very nightmarish and the film takes on a darker tone.


This gives the film a great start, but it winds up very disappointing. It's watchable, but there are so many things in this film that doesn't make any sense whatsoever, which is why this film feels off. Joel Schumacher's 1990 “Flatliners”- which was a good film- remade like this for a film lover, was bad. Sadly, there is not much I can say that was actually good about this film, as the flaws in its concept just bring this film down.
Dislikes :


• The pacing, along with these mistakes in the concept, brought this film down. It was so boring to watch it was unreal. The story could've been done better- although watchable, it’s not a film I will rush to buy on DVD. 




•  The biggest problem with this film is the concept. Ellen Page’s character you can understand from her past; the same can be said of Nina Dobrev, who plays Marlo. The other two character concepts, however, didn't make sense in the film. It feels like this film had 10 different writers with 10 different themes, which comes off as a disjointed story concept. It’s a shame since it started off strong.

Overall: Not as good as the original, had potential but sadly another failed remake but watchable

Rating: 4.3 out of 5 for entertainment / 6.1 out of 10 for a concept.