A Mistake

We are living in an age of two conditions. On the one hand we have too much information out of context and so, this becomes misinformation. On the other hand we have the withholding of critically important information that could attest truth. In some cases the margins of life and death are defined by one small fact that could have made the difference.

I see people criticising the movie and the acting. I disagree with their opinions and their ratings.

Why?

I have experienced medical malpractice.

A doctor was forced by governmental and hospital rules to prescribe steroid injections for an ocular occlusion, injections directly into the eye that would further exacerbate liver failure and damage the endocrine system.

The alternative was Avastin, a drug used in chemotherapy, the lesser evil and less damaging. Avastin costs only $10 to make but is charged at $1500 per application.i have suffered considerable damage as a direct consequence of the treatments, with no recourse or accountability.

Sure, this movie isn't an action blockbuster. Here we have Elizabeth acting just like a real surgeon. With all the understated mannerisms. Very good acting. Just understated, as it should be for authenticity.

For this reason I think the reviews are unfair.

This is what the medical system is really like.

Political. Manipulative. Selfish.

Administration.

Banks' Dr. Taylor could've been me, or half the surgeons I've worked with. That little knot of pride trusting you've got the skill, the judgment, the *right* to be in control, until you decide to let someone else take the step you've taken a thousand times. You tell yourself it's mentorship. You tell yourself they're ready. Then you blink, and the patient's gone.

It wasn't the first scenes that hit me. It was the silence afterward. The way people won't meet your eyes in the hallway. The administrative smiles that hide sharpened teeth. The moment you realize the institution will feed you to the wolves if it keeps them out of the headlines. She carried herself exactly like we do when we're trying not to drown shoulders square, voice even, replaying the moment over and over until you think maybe you can reverse time if you find the right frame. I know that replay. I live with my own.

The film left me with this sick pit in my stomach. Not because it's exaggerated, but because it isn't. It's real. One mistake, one lapse, and suddenly your years of service, your reputation, your sense of self, they're all on the table.

It has been a while since I was pleasantly surprised by what I call a "small movie," which is by no means a negative term. Suffice it to say, A Mistake achieved just that.

I admire directors who dare to tackle heavy, genuinely sad, and often depressing topics. But these are the stories that need to be told. They matter. They carry a message.

A Mistake is brilliant because it resonates on so many levels. It sheds light on the immense pressure hospitals and their staff endure, but what makes this film so universally relatable is its exploration of humanity. We, as individuals, are the sum of our choices, and no one wants to be defined by a single mistake. At its core, this movie is about loss, responsibility, and-above all-forgiveness, beautifully conveyed through the outstanding performance of Elizabeth Banks.

This movie can be a bit hard to watch because of its intensity. It's definitely made to provoke emotion and thought. Even several days later I'm still thinking about it.

On the surface, it's a medical drama revolving around the titular mistake and consequences. But there's more depth and complexity - even the mistake is not as obvious as it seems. Competing forces clash and interact, driven by conflicting motives while we watch Elizabeth Banks' character react, evolve and reach a resolution. Her character development, as well as that of secondary characters, is what makes this movie so powerful. As much as I squirmed, I had to stay to watch it all the way through.

I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending, While not a happy Hollywood ending, I think more could have been done with it. Despite that, the movie was very much worth watching if you're looking for a dark and powerful charactor driven story.

Gifted surgeon Elizabeth Taylor (Elizabeth Banks) finds her life thrown into disarray following a mistake by one of her team during surgery appears to lead to a patient's death. The bureaucratic Head of Surgery Andrew McGrath (Simon McBurney) seems to hold her responsible somehow and tries to control her and what she can say publicly about the incident. He also suspends her and treats her almost as 'the enemy' during the coming weeks.

I suspect most hospitals are run by people like Andrew McGrath and I suspect many health practitioners suffer the heavy hand of that type of bureaucracy. Despite seeming to want transparency and accountability, they seem to only want it on their own terms. It reminded me of course of the many investigations into health care in the UK where hospitals spend many years fighting in court to hide their malpractice. Malpractice that often -when the reports are finally made public- show that the hospital either knew about and tried to hide it, or engineered that malpractice through overly bureaucratic processes that did not fit with quality health care. The parents of the patient who died simply wanted to know the truth about what happened, and yet that was not easily available.

Although this is just a story I suspect it is highlighting the fact that this goes on, every day, in healthcare settings. Politics should have no place in healthcare but sadly it seems most hospitals are run by people like Andrew McGrath.

It's a very thought provoking film and Banks does a brilliant job of bringing Dr Elizabeth Taylor to life. I give it a solid 7.