"Gothika" (2003) starring Halle Berry and Robert Downey Jr.

Anyone remember this flick? I saw it in the early 2000s when it first came out but couldn't remember much about it years later. I just rewatched it for the first time on Netflix. Abandoning all logic at the door, I found it surprisingly watchable and atmospheric. The storyline is fairly original, and it sort of crosses true crime with supernatural horror in an interesting way—the twist is pretty dark. Penelope Cruz's role as the rape-victim prisoner is wonderfully over-the-top, and Halle Berry hams it up a bit here and there, though I think her performance was pretty solid. Robert Downey Jr. at his peak hotness is another perk. I still don't know what the title of the movie is actually referring to.

Wow, she looks like Zendaya there.

If Miss Berry is starring in it, it's garbage. Same, Nicole Kidman.

Dumb.

This was from Dark Castle Entertainment released by Warner Bros. Every year it so they would release low budget horror film with big budget casts. There were some hit and misses. I really liked Orphan, hated Splice and got to see Paris Hilton die in House of Wax.

I never bothered. I didn't care.

Halle really was a "push actress". I mean she worked well playing ingenues, maternal figures or femme fatales in ensemble films but she really had no star power to carry films by herself. She doesn't have much charisma, range or an interesting personality. She is hot but that's not enough to carry a film. She was great in the newest John Wick because she wasn't the star, she played a side role. That's really what she is suited for.

RDJ looking like her gay bestie

Stupid and really bad movie!

Never saw it, but i do remember the MV for Behind Blue Eyes. Fred Durst was loving every second of making out with Halle.

I actually liked Gothika and couldn't entirely understand why critics hated it so much.

I do remember it getting press for Robert Downy Jr. breaking Halle's arm during the production. (Which is why her character has to wear a cast suddenly.)

He was, at the time, an ass about it which is why the two hated each other (and maybe still do) for years.

I felt the same way about Catwoman. I know that pretty much ended her film career but honestly I thought it wasn't that bad.

I liked Gothika and thought it was a pretty well done film. I liked Splice as well. The special were great.

Kidnap was a painful film to watch. It seemed so low-budget and Halle's acting left more than a lot to be desired.

I have not seen this movie in years, but I remember liking it a lot better than other horror movies at the time.

Monster's Ball was on last night. God how did she win for that mediocre performance?

I've never seen Halle Berry in a decent, let alone good, performance.

I don't think I'd seen her in anything before I saw one of the X-Men movies she was in. I remember wondering how someone who was supposedly this great actress could be so bad in such a small role of a comic book movie.

She was beyond awful in the X-Men movies, wasn't she?

R20, she really was. It doesn't speak well of her acting abilities that she couldn't it off her role in a comic book movie.

R21 She seemed to sleep walk through the role. I mean, all she really had to do is spread her arms and have a fan blow on her. She could have at least tried to commit to it.

^^couldn't pull off her role

R22, lol. I may have to watch those movies again just to see if she's as bad as I remember.

Halle didn't capture the strong and badass African goddess that Storm was. The 90s cartoon is the closest depiction. Angela Bassett should have played Storm. Iman and Naomi Campbell would have fit the look too. Just give them acting classes.

Halle wasn't too bad in Losing Isaiah and The Call.