Flatliners could also be a remake of a largely forgotten Joel Schumacher film, nevertheless it’s a remake that does extra than simply recycle previous concepts—it reimagines its central themes to make them related for a youthful era. The film follows 5 good medical college students (Ellen Page, Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, James Norton, and Kiersey Clemons) as they examine the damaging frontier of mind exercise instantly following loss of life; they shortly flip themselves into check topics, stopping their hearts and counting on the others to resuscitate them earlier than it’s too late. At first, these experiences, which the group collectively dub “flatlining,” appear to provide the scholars superhuman stamina and elevated mind operate. However, they quickly notice that there’s a darkish facet to their experiments, as they discover themselves haunted by previous failures and errors.

The science behind the movie is predictably shaky—as is often the case in tales that cope with ideas which might be nonetheless mysterious to the medical group. But beneath its literal floor, the film makes loads of fascinating factors in regards to the strain to succeed (and the worry of failure) felt by many millennials. Each scholar is haunted by a previous mistake, and so they push themselves to their limits, each bodily and mentally, in an try and transcend these errors…till they’re lastly pressured to resist their troubled pasts.

Director Niels Arden Oplev offers with these existential themes admirably, and the solid all give nice performances, however viewers anticipating a pulse-pounding sci-fi horror movie are more likely to be disillusioned. Still, for individuals who like their thrillers with a little bit of a cerebral edge, Flatliners is a largely satisfying experience and a welcome instance of a remake that brings one thing new to the desk.