John, 316

This movie reminds me a lot of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest. Not as hard hitting or well made, but it has powerful messages without being preachy.

It is not a Christian vehicle for a salvation message, nothing like that.

It weaves an interesting tale while touching on over medication, administrative greed, as well as portrays that some medical staff cares about their patients.

Shows the imperfection of the human vessel and the frailty of the mind.

Its a good drama. I recommend it, but not for a date night or for younger kids. The subject matters shown and alluded to are for a mature audience.

The appearance suggests this to be another low budget Christian movie. The title, picture, trailer, no name actors and low reviews are intended to suck in Christians.

But this movie does not proclaim to made by Christians or for Christians as surely as John never proclaims to be Jesus Christ. Be warned, even if this movie has a somewhat redemptive ending, it is not a Christian movie. Pervasive swearing and implied sex is not found in Christian movies. Writers today feel it helps ratings to make things 'real'.

On a positive note, this movie does expose the harsh reality of how mental illness, psychiatric administration and ultimately big pharma has misbehaved in the past. I can only hope we are getting better.

At a psychiatric hospital in middle America a no-name drifter (Colin Matty) is brought in by the police, covered in a white sheet because he was naked. While he is likable and his eccentric ways win over the patients, the faculty isn't so sure (Afton Rentz, Griffin Cork, etc.), especially when a new boss takes over (Darrell Portz).

"John, 316" (2020) is a mental hospital drama that's naturally reminiscent of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975), but with a supernatural element similar to "The Green Mile" (1999) and a protagonist who recalls Toni Collette of "The Sixth Sense" (1999).

It's amazing this only cost $75,000 (or $100,000 in Canadian dollars) because it's a worthy drama with entertaining bits and potent insights. Sure, it's not on the level of "Cuckoo's Nest" or "Green Mile," but I prefer it to "Sixth Sense" for several reasons. You get to know the characters and buy them as real people. Only Portz hams it up a bit, but it fits his antagonistic role.

The spiritual points connected with me and they're way more than just what relates to the title. I'm not going to give 'em away, yet they're there for all to see; you just have to look beyond society's programming (brainwashing). One simple scene could easily be missed it's so mundane, but it speaks deep cosmic truth.

The movie runs 1 hour, 43 minutes, and was shot in Alberta, Canada, at Alberta Beach & Edmonton (hospital). Alberta Beach is about 45 miles west of the big city.

GRADE: B+/A-

Sorry this is virtually unwatchable, the acting is so bad I wondered if it was deliberately done for effect, but no I concluded it was just terrible. The script is no better, the concept appeared promising but the film fails to deliver. Total rubbish a complete waste of an evening, gave in a quit when the plot became too ridiculous.

I made an IMDB account so I could review this film. This is two hours of my life I won't get back. This is some badly produced religious propaganda. I appreciate that they filmed at Alberta Hospital though, that's fun.

You see one guy's butt a lot. Despite being an inpatient with access to resources and clothing, this guy only wears a bedsheet.

They also could have spoken to literally one person who works in health care to make any of this more realistic. Who voted to give this movie awards? Like if this was someone's university project I would be impressed.

My friend made me watch this movie because her dad acted in this for literally two seconds.

Also, we should have watched "Money Plane" instead. There's plenty of right wing religious propaganda out there that's better made.