Gothika (2003)

Losing your grip on reality is terrifying, especially when no one believes a word you say. Mathieu Kassovitz's "Gothika," written by Sebastian Gutierrez, promises a spooky, atmospheric thriller steeped in supernatural mystery, and it's best enjoyed as a waking nightmare that doesn't need to make logical sense. Making his flashy English-language debut after his superior 2000 French thriller "The Crimson Rivers," the actor-director piles on the dark, stormy atmosphere. Halle Berry stars as Dr. Miranda Grey, a respected psychiatrist at a grim women's prison hospital. Driving home on a rainy night, she swerves to avoid a mysterious young girl standing in the road, and the next thing she knows, she's locked up as a patient in her own ward, accused of murdering her husband (Charles S. Dutton), who ran the facility, with no memory of the crime. Is she suffering from delusions after the accident, or is a girl who vanished years earlier sending clues from beyond the grave? Among her fellow inmates is a troubled former patient (Penélope Cruz) who insists she's being tormented by a sinister presence. Miranda must prove her sanity and her innocence, while Kassovitz keeps everyone, including viewers and her concerned colleague (Robert Downey Jr.), in the dark about where the far-fetched plot is heading. There's a better movie buried somewhere among the catwalks and shadowy corners of the impressive fortress-like prison, and Berry gives it her all in a performance that matches the film's heated tone.