Movie Reviews

Five medical students who are obsessed with what happens after you die, set out on a daring experiment. By stopping their heart for a short period, they trigger a near-death experience so that they will uncover the truth about the afterlife. But guess what? Things don't turn out the way they thought.

If the storyline sounds familiar, then it's because they already made this movie back in 1990. Back then it was with Kevin Bacon, Julia Roberts and Kiefer Sutherland (who has a supporting role here), this time around we get treated to Ellen Page and a couple of up-and-comers whose career unfortunately won't be helped by being in this movie. That's beause it wasn't a very good movie back in 1990 when Joel Schumacher made it and it isn't one now either.

Page stars as Dr. Courtney Holmes, whose sister died in a car accident years ago due to her negligence. Then there's the very responsible and ethical Ray (Diego Luna), the flirty Marlo (Nina Dobrev), the rich kid (James Norton) and the easily stressed out Sophia (Kiersey Clemons). Courtney's first experience with the afterlife is so amazing, that the other are easily convinced to give it a go themselves. But then mysterious things start to happen and everything becomes decidedly less fascinating for those involved. Courtney begins to see an apparition that turns out to be a manifestation of her guilt over her sister's death. Meanwhile, the others experience creepy events as well, all caused by events in their past and mostly occurring while they are wandering around in the dark. That's when I pretty much stopped caring. It all just feels very uninspired and cliched and the cast, who give it their all, can only do so much with a script that fails to bring their characters (back) to life.