The Gap

You really need to check out this incredible drama about a combat veteran grappling with his future.
What hit me hardest, though, was how they depicted mental health patients in psychiatric wards. It’s honestly harrowing. The way those people are treated is pure horror; instead of helping them recover, it feels like they just leave them in an even worse state than when they arrived. Honestly, at a certain point, it feels like they should just be granted mercy rather than being drugged up on a cocktail of antidepressants and sedatives while being locked away in disgusting cells.

The lead actor is nothing short of phenomenal... Adrien Brody... that guy has such an intense gaze and a unique way of moving.

I ended up downloading it online since I doubt you'd even find it in a local video rental shop anymore. Besides, does anyone actually bother going to a video store when you have an endless stream of the latest movies right at your fingertips on the internet? 🙄 🙂

Did it really hit you that hard?

The absolute highlight was definitely Adrien Brody, 😍 though the plot felt—at least to me—a little predictable... 😁

P.S. I actually asked a psychologist in my family if it’s even possible for people in care facilities to treat patients that way today, and she just said: "That's pure sci-fi (at least in the US). That didn't even happen back in the Freudian era." 😁
I think she mentioned the 1970s being this massive turning point for ethical mental health treatment.

I think I'm gonna check out this movie... just purely out of curiosity... 😳

Sandra King86 said:Did it really blow you away that much?

The absolute highlight of the movie was Adrien Brody, 😍 but honestly, the plot felt a little predictable to me. 😁

P.S. I actually asked a psychologist in my family if it’s even possible for patients to be treated like that in facilities meant to help them. Her response? "That’s straight-up sci-fi (at least in the West). That didn't even happen back in the Freudian era." 😁
I think she mentioned the 1970s were the major turning point for ethical standards in mental health care.

Please. What Hollywood movie isn't predictable? This one just... maybe hits a twist in the final minutes. But as for treating mental health patients—it's a massive spectrum. It gets dark enough that you have incompetent guards in places that should be sanctuaries, taking bribes from creeps to abuse some poor soul who's already lost in their own mind. 🙄 Because who’s going to believe a single person with a mental disorder? They’re seen as unstable and unreliable in every sense of the word. The doctors? They can basically only sit there and wash their hands of it.

swiftcyclist22 said:I grabbed it online since I doubt you can even find it at a rental shop anymore. Besides, does anyone actually bother visiting a video store when they have an endless stream of new releases right at their fingertips on the internet? 🙄 🙂

Where? Torrent? Send me a DM :P

Anyone catch this yet?

The plot feels a bit disjointed to me...

😕

gentlejackal16 said:Anyone else catch this yet?

The plot feels a bit all over the place—kind of confusing...

😕

Well, if you think this is messy, don't ever try watching Sunset Boulevard. 😁

And don't go overthinking 'Sunset Boulevard' either.

Saw Bio at the cinema tonight. It’s actually quite fine. Naturally, it immediately brings to mind Marker’s 'La Jetée' or even Gilliam’s '12 Monkeys,' but whatever. Brody is great, though I suspect his supporting cast wasn't exactly the best fit or even in the right headspace on set. That mostly falls on Knightley, and Jason Leighgh wasn't anything special either (considering she was genuinely good in 'The Machinist').
Just to be clear, there isn't any chaotic or impossible plot here. This is a mainstream crowd-pleaser where everything is polished and straightforward, without any weirdly complex script interventions. There isn't much explaining; it's just a situation that's meant to feel mysterious. Since I went in expecting a sci-fi psychological thriller, I was prepared for the lack of explanation, so that didn't make it hard to digest. I guess that's the thing with sci-fi: you watch what you like and take what they give you...
Okay, cinematic enough. Good acting from the lead and some excellent opening scenes where the virtual (well, screen-mediated) and real reality intertwine.

p.s.
Psychologists could probably weigh in here, but if I recall, there was once an experiment involving 'sensory deprivation' where a kit got all worked up and headed into that quasi-womb state just to see what would happen. While we're on the subject of films: those experiments inspired a truly memorable one: 'Altered States' starring William Hurt.

p.p.s.
Got a few questions for anyone who's seen it: what did you think of that last line? I feel like it was totally unnecessary, but let's save that debate for later so we don't have to deal with 'spoiler' warnings and invisible text... 🙂

I watched Sunset Boulevard years ago... it wasn't bad. Given the director's style, I suppose something like that was to be expected.

I’ve been planning on seeing this one for sure, just wanted to do a little digging first to get a sense of what I'm getting into.
Couldn't find any previous threads about this movie, though.

I'll probably catch it after my vacation...

🙂

I caught a movie yesterday, and honestly, I have to say—the quality actually caught me off guard.

Sandra King86 said:P.S. I asked a family psychologist if it was actually possible for people to treat patients this way in facilities meant to help them. Her response?

"That’s science fiction—at least in the West. This didn't even happen back in the Freudian era." 😁
I think she mentioned the 1970s were the major turning point for ethical standards in mental health care.

🤣 🤣 🤣

He really played you, and you actually believed him! 😲

I know from firsthand experience that even today, right here in America, they perform experiments on psychiatric patients that make what we saw in this movie look like "light therapy." 😁

Sandra King86 said:P.S. I actually asked a psychologist in my family if it was even possible for people in modern care facilities to treat patients this way today, and they told me, "That's science fiction—at least in the Western world. That hasn't happened since the Freudian era." 😁
I think she was referring to the 1970s as a major turning point for ethical standards in mental health treatment.

😉
I'm just not sure how much that horrific treatment relates to the changes in the 1970s, though perhaps it’s because homosexuality isn't even classified as a disorder in the diagnostic manual anymore...

Regarding those kinds of treatments, the approach to mental illness really began to shift toward the end of the 18th century. Before that, if you look at something like the Salem witch trials, the way people were treated was incredibly inhumane and cruel. I don't even need to mention how they would mandate castrations on the mentally ill to prevent "tainted seeds" from being passed on, or how patients were kept in prisons in shackles, living only on bread and water. One of their methods involved dousing people with a hundred buckets of ice-cold water a day. And when that wasn't enough, they would try to "spin" them in the dark 😁 —basically, they thought spinning someone until they were dizzy would calm mania; they would spin these poor souls until they were incapacitated. Not to mention how they were used as spectacles, basically monsters put on display in town squares...

Well, all of that slowly started changing from the late 18th century through the 19th. The real turning point would be the move made by the French physician Philippe Pinel, who was the first to actually unchain patients and advocate for a more humane approach. Things have generally improved since then. For instance, up until the 20th century, they were still using bloodletting, believing it led to recovery 😎 And then eventually there were electric shocks and lobotomies... there was a lot of everything back then..

I haven't seen the movie The Gap, so I don't know exactly what kind of treatment the patients receive in the film, but given how much stupidity exists in the world, I wouldn't be surprised if psychiatric patients are still being mistreated somewhere (though obviously nothing quite as drastic as in the past...). There's just a lot of things out there..
🙂

I’m happy with the movie. I didn't have high expectations going in, which is probably why it worked for me. It isn't exactly life-changing, but it's a solid film. Someone mentioned Keira Knightley was bad, and I have to agree there. She overacts a bit... at least in those opening scenes. As the story moves along, it seems to find its footing. That's about it.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

So... did Brody make it out alive? Or when exactly did he kick the bucket?

More potential spoilers ahead!!!

From what I can gather, he died. It happened right when he took that hit to the head. Then they shoved his bloodied body into a drawer. He just finished everything he was meant to do in the future and passed away. That’s how I saw it at least...

just a thought:

...I see people acting like he kicked the bucket back in Iraq, treating the whole movie like some fever dream happening inside his head right before the end... but honestly, I figured he was gone for good back in '93 when he hit his head on the floor. The real question is whether he actually made it to 2007—the end of the film—though I guess it doesn't really matter for the point being made...

and also 😁

I doubt he made it through 2007. But then again, like you said, it doesn't really matter. What matters is we agree he passed away in '93. 😁

spoiler, also:

Honestly, I didn't even stop to wonder if he actually died; I just assumed he did (lesson learned from getting lost on some backroad in Nebraska, I guess). The guy can basically jump through time and manifest himself out of thin air. Reading your posts, I’m starting to think I lean a little too hard into the sci-fi "anything goes" theory. What really trips me up, though, is that final line from the woman: "How much time do we have this time?" Does that mean she knows about all his visits and how he's shaped her life? If so, that kind of ruins my take on the movie...

...I honestly have no clue... I thought the nurse said it, but it looks like Jackie (Kiera) was actually the one speaking... You could interpret the ending however you want... especially when she gets in the car and her face just goes pale... Either she’s dying or she’s waking up, who knows.
But that’s not even the main point... Brody had a much better shot at fixing his life than the rest of us mere mortals did. That final line is basically the director talking directly to us... It’s a question aimed at the audience, not Brody... which is pretty much the whole point of the movie, isn't it? ..;-)