Despite a young, star-studded cast, each of whom went on to succeed in their own right, and a concept that should have delivered more. Flatliners (1990) is like a heart monitor after a failed resuscitation: it flatlines, leaving only faint echoes of what could have been.
Meet a crew of brazen medical students, obsessed with cracking the code of what lies beyond the final breath. When their daring and ambitious friend, Nelson (Kiefer Sutherland), proposes a wild plan, to stop his heart, flirt with death, and race back to life, they all dive in headfirst.
What begins as a daring experiment quickly spirals into a reckless game of one-upmanship, with each character desperate to outlast the other, constantly pushing themselves to flatline longer than the last, all in the pursuit of the ultimate brush with death. As they take each extended trip into the unknown, the risks and consequences are meant to feel far greater. Or at least, that's what the movie wants us to believe. But let’s be real: these so-called journeys to ‘the other side’ are about as exciting as a medical textbook, leaving us unmoved and unspooked.
Aside from Sutherland, the movie also boasts an impressive lineup with Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, and William Baldwin in the main roles a cast that practically screams "gold" in terms of talent. Yet, despite the star power, the bitter sting of disappointment cuts deep when their collective efforts yield nothing but a forgettable, throwaway flick that barely manages to register a pulse, leaving us wondering where it all went wrong
Flatliners morphs into a plodding therapy session, where spectral visions and buried traumas relentlessly haunt each character, forcing them to confront their past sins. It aims for emotional depth but stumbles, never quite picking up momentum or weaving its ghostly reckonings into a tale that sticks with you. For a sharper stab at this concept, check out the 2017 Flatliners remake, linked below, which breathes more life into the premise.
Bathed in a relentless haze of blue and red filters, the movie plays it safe as a pedestrian thriller, tiptoeing around the shadowy, psychological-supernatural horror we crave but never quite delivering. Instead of pushing boundaries or exploring the darker corners of fear, it settles for tame suspense, offering only surface-level thrills when we were yearning for a much darker, more sinister plunge into the abyss.
The first hour fixates on Sutherland’s Nelson getting pummeled by creepy kids, an odd choice that wears thin quickly. Then it pivots, diving into each character’s baggage: Kevin Bacon’s David hunts redemption like it’s a side quest, Julia Roberts’ Rachel mopes over family drama, and William Baldwin’s Joe dodges ghosts of hookups past. They dash around a gloomy, empty building, setting up their death-defying stunts, but it feels like a broken record. When it’s over, you’re left thinking, “Seriously? That’s it? Two hours for such a hollow echo?"
We’ve got a cast that could light up any blockbuster, with stars who have gone on to achieve great things. So why does Flatliners feel so dull and uninspired? The story limps along, never quite finding its rhythm, the execution falters, and the locations are as forgettable as a B-movie set. Each scene feels like a missed opportunity, and nothing here screams “memorable,” and that’s the real crime, given the potential this movie had.
Is it awful? Not quite, it’s not a total trainwreck. But a must-watch masterpiece? Far from it. It lingers in limbo and lands somewhere a little below average, and truthfully, if it weren’t for the strong and recognizable cast, it probably would have dropped even further. A tighter cut could’ve saved it from its sluggish, overstretched pacing, which drags like a ghost reluctant to leave, making the two-hour slog feel like an eternity for so little payoff.
Check out our 'Flatliners (2017)' remake Review