Gothika

"And no one knows what it's like To be hated To be fated To telling only lies

But my dreams, they aren't as empty As my conscience seems to be I have hours, only lonely My love is vengeance That's never free"

- "Behind Blue Eyes", The Who, covered in the movie by Limp Bizkit

Gothika is a 2003 American supernatural thriller directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and written by Sebastian Gutierrez. Halle Berry plays Dr. Miranda Grey, a psychiatrist in a women's mental hospital who wakes up one day to find herself on the other side of the bars, accused of having murdered her husband and boss Doug. To make matters worse, she is also being tormented by visions of a mutilated young woman. Notable for a strong but under-used supporting cast, including Robert Downey, Jr., Penélope Cruz, Charles S. Dutton and Bernard Hill.

Gothika was released on November 21, 2003 in North America and Canada, grossing $19,288,438 in the opening weekend and ranking at #2. It went on to gross $59.6 million in the domestic market and $81.8 from foreign markets for a worldwide total of $141.5 million. In comparison with the film's $40m budget, the film was a financial success despite taking something of a beating from the critics.


 * Ax Crazy: Miranda temporarily becomes so when possessed by a vengeful ghost.
 * Beware of Hitch-Hiking Ghosts: One of the earlier encounters with the ghost fits this trope.
 * Breakaway Pop Hit: Limp Bizkit recorded a cover of "Behind Blue Eyes" for the movie. It has become more well-known than the film.
 * Cuckoo Nest
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones:.
 * Fridge Logic: If a psychiatrist.
 * When Miranda, Pete (Robert Downey, Jr.'s character) tells her that he pulled some strings to have her . Otherwise, she would have ended up in another institution.
 * "Get Out of Jail Free" Card:
 * Ghostly Goals:.
 * Girls Behind Bars: Notably averted. Even the Shower Scene is made realistic and unsexy by displaying old and unattractive inmates besides nicer-looking ones.
 * A God Am I: A particularly creepy example shows up when Miranda discovers
 * Haunted Heroine
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Miranda is Storm, her husband/boss is Roc, her co-worker is Iron Man, and the sheriff is Drew Carey's older brother.
 * I See Dead People
 * Red Herring: One film critic joked that 's character should have just been named Red Herring; it was so obvious that's what he was.
 * Romance on the Set: Robert Downey, Jr. met his current wife, Susan Levin (one of the film's producers), while making this movie.
 * Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Specifically, big fat 50-something guy, Halle Berry wife.
 * Word Puree Title: The "word" Gothika has no relevance to the film in any way, other than a ghost story set in a spooky hospital being vaguely gothic.
 * Written-In Infirmity: Halle Berry broke her arm during filming; an injury was duly written in to explain away her plaster cast.
 * You Have to Believe Me: Miranda gets her arm slashed with the words "not alone" while in the group shower. She was out of sight for only a few seconds, yet the wounds are many and quite precise. There's also no weapon to be found anywhere. Instead of pointing out these facts and letting her keepers arrive at a conclusion (something's very much not right here), she starts ranting...
 * You Have to Believe Me: Miranda gets her arm slashed with the words "not alone" while in the group shower. She was out of sight for only a few seconds, yet the wounds are many and quite precise. There's also no weapon to be found anywhere. Instead of pointing out these facts and letting her keepers arrive at a conclusion (something's very much not right here), she starts ranting...