Entertainment
Star-Studded, R-Rated 90s Sci-Fi Thriller Will Bring You To The Brink Of Death And Back
By Robert Scucci
| Updated
Here’s a little word of advice for anyone who’s always hunting for the next thing to watch. When the burnout guitar tech named Zippy (portrayed by Bill Hader) in the 2016 musical mockumentary satire Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping casually mentions that he loves falling into a medically induced near-death experience for the rush, and cites 1990’s Flatliners as his inspiration, it’s not an open invitation to seek the film out and actually watch it. I did, and I have regrets.
My curiosity got the best of me because of a single throwaway joke that made me laugh harder than I care to admit, which ultimately forced me to seek out Flatliners. On paper, it checks a lot of boxes for me. It’s a sci-fi psychological horror thriller built around a pulpy concept, and it’s stacked with a mostly reliable roster of talent, including Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin, and Oliver Platt. This should have at the very least been a solid B-movie, but it doesn’t even satisfy on that level.
Medical Students Playing God With Each Other
On paper, Flatliners has a great concept, but the execution is anything but desirable. We’re introduced to Nelson Wright (Kiefer Sutherland), a medical student obsessed with experiencing death because he believes glimpsing the afterlife will provide answers to life’s biggest philosophical questions. Joining him are fellow students, including Rachel Manus (Julia Roberts), outspoken atheist David Labraccio (Kevin Bacon), womanizing sexpot Joe Hurley (William Baldwin), and the self important coward and unofficial scribe Randy Steckle (Oliver Platt).
The object of Nelson’s game in Flatliners is simple. He convinces his classmates to force him into a medically induced death, reviving him at the last possible moment so he can come back and report his findings. The first experiment is technically successful, but Nelson is permanently altered by the experience and immediately wants to go under again when given the chance. Joe pushes things even further when he volunteers, letting the clock run longer than is even remotely responsible, and comes back with his own unsettling revelations.
Tensions rise within the group as Nelson and Joe begin acting erratically, but David, the resident atheist, insists there has to be a logical explanation for what they’re seeing. Naturally, David gets flatlined next and experiences similar visions, followed shortly by Rachel, who has her own troubling experience.
The group eventually surmises that they’re being haunted by physical manifestations of their past sins, and resolve to figure out how to atone for their mistakes. The unfortunate reality in Flatliners is that the only way forward involves going under again, for longer and longer periods of time, in order to make peace with themselves and the increasingly hostile specters that follow them back.
Beware The Blue Light Special
Flashbacks and crossover sequences in Flatliners look like stock footage blasted with blue and red lighting as medical students play god with a makeshift death machine, recklessly chasing glimpses of the afterlife and dealing with the consequences later. Those consequences include disembodied kids beating Kiefer Sutherland with a hockey stick, along with other equally ridiculous encounters. Nobody owns furniture. And these deeply irresponsible medical experiments take place in a run-down wing of the university that seems perpetually on the verge of flooding or electrocuting everyone involved.
Listen, I’d like proof of an afterlife too, but there are better ways to go about it is all I’m saying. You could probably get similar results by pounding two Ghost energy drinks back to back and hopping on a Tilt-A-Whirl. You’re still putting your life in a carnie’s hands, sure, but at least afterward you can grab some funnel cake and call it a day.
Despite its cast and concept, Flatliners ultimately falls flat for reasons that still baffle me. For a movie with a reported production budget of $26 million, I genuinely have no idea where that money went, because it never shows up on screen in any way that justifies the expense. I own an LED strip and a phone full of Instagram filters that could recreate the same wobbly, blue soaked experience from my living room without breaking a sweat. None of this makes sense.
If you’re still intrigued by Zippy’s enthusiasm for Flatliners, the film is currently available on demand through YouTube, Apple TV+, Prime Video, and Fandango at Home.
