Flatliners Review

Flatliners
A group of medical students researching near-death experiences start taking the extreme measures of shocking each other in order to produce these visions. But when their visions return to haunt them in their real lives, they reach deeper and farther to find a cure.

by Adam Smith |
Published on
Release Date:

01 Jan 1990

Running Time:

115 minutes

Certificate:

15

Original Title:

Flatliners

Joel Schumacher and a pre-Speed cinematographer Jan De Bont go design doolally in this ludicrously thin but fun cod-philosophical caper.

The plot doesn't deliver on its excellent premise (doctors stopping each others' hearts to voyage to the other side, then reviving themselves). The cast of bright young things poised on the brink of superstardom (or so it must have seemed to Billy Baldwin) give it their all, but are hamstrung by a lack of humour and sometimes paper-thin characterisation.

But thankfully, there's more than script and performance on offer here, and when it comes to spectacular vacuous visuals, Joel's the man, so sit back and enjoy the lightshow.

Not as profound as it would like to be, but nowhere near as bad as it could have been, this is entertaining hokum.
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