User reviews

Susannah Cahalan (Chloë Grace Moretz) is 21 with a dream job as a New York Post reporter. Stephen Grywalski is her musician boyfriend. Her father Tom Cahalan (Richard Armitage) and her mother Rhona Nack (Carrie- Anne Moss) are divorced. Fellow reporter Margo (Jenny Slate) is her best friend and Richard (Tyler Perry) is her boss. She starts suffering from strange symptoms but doctors are stymied.

The story is basically a medical mystery Lifetime movie. It has superior actors who are able to bring some life to the material. The story is very straight forward with no surprises and the filmmaking is the same. It leaves the movie with limited potential for tension but the actors with the exception of the boyfriend try their best to elevate the material. There is one scene which surprised me. When she looked into the mirror and can't see her reflection, it occurred to me that the first half of the movie could easily be turned into a horror movie. There is a potential to see this from her point of view and make this a paranoia disturbing vision. That could have injected something original into the first half and allow for a surprise twist in the middle. Otherwise, this is solid if somewhat uninspired filmmaking.

Many viewers are giving this film a high rating and are upset if anyone gives a lower rating. They are judging this film on the disease and not the movie. IMDb uses criteria to arrive at a fair value, which in most cases is more accurate. It is not an average of all ratings added together but is based on all ratings made.

My rating of 6 for this important movie is very close to this adjusted final rating and thus my thoughts about the movie tallies with this logic. The movie itself is only average, dealing with a very important subject. I am glad to have seen it.

A young newspaper writer suffers an unexpected breakdown and this film follows the consequences, medical review, treatment options, meds, etc. It's an interesting story with a somewhat rare root cause, but not that unique considering the exponential learning curve of medical science just in the last 50 years. The screenplay possibly originated in a medical journal.

For me, the best part was the insider's view of medical triage: the trials and tribulations of diagnosis, the pressure of expediency, and the effects of advocacy paired with available health care.

Suggestions for Chloe Grace Moretz casting/make-up: - the puffy lips were distracting - her nails were too perfect for someone earning a living at a keyboard AND suffering manic episodes.

This movie resonates with me. As a parent, I know what it's like to watch the so called medical experts come to incomplete conclusions to proclaim misdiagnoses without considering ALL the facts.

What the negative reviews here do not understand is how very realistic and accurate this movie is. It's obvious some viewers came to be entertained... and missed the point of the movie entirely. This is not a movie intended to entertain; it is intended to inform and educate.

I had a close family member with undiagnosed major epilepsy for many years. There is nothing more frustrating than to have test after test after test, only to have supposed specialists look you in the eye and tell you "There's nothing wrong"... when very obviously something is wrong.

The downsides:

* The beginning and ending narratives could have been left out and the entire movie handled dramatically rather than using a cheap intro and exit. There is no "cheap intro" to mental illness. It can come on slowly or very quickly, but there is no convenient voice-over introduction.

* One scene of totally gratuitous nudity (without which this movie could have received a PG instead of PG-13 rating).

* The sudden far-too-short "picket fence" ending rather than the long-term, emotional, challenging-in-every-way recovery that was part of this process. Again the "cheap voice over exit" did the movie great disservice. I'd have liked to see another half hour added to it with a proper ending helping people to understand the entire thing, not just the hospital stay.

These issues are why I rate this 7 stars instead of 10. Nevertheless, what we see of the story was superbly done and deserves a nod of approval in making the public aware of some issues involved with mental illness-- not the least of which is medical incompetence and not caring enough about the patient to think outside the "standard diagnosis" box (something that I've seen over and over).

The acting was superb-- especially that of the main actress Chloe Moretz, who presented all issues from initial "blanking" to grand-mal seizures with astonishing realism.

The doctors were convincing. None of them were mean or had ill-intent; they were just incompetent and took a lot for granted. (Yes, I've significant observational experience with such medical staff. There's no end to the "we find nothing wrong" excuse rather than caring enough to find out what's wrong.) The frustration of the parents-- while seeming over the top-- quite realistic after going through so much garbage diagnosis they just couldn't take it any more. Not all people are like this... but such frustration is realistic.

In short, with the exceptions stated above this was a very well-written, well-directed and superbly-acted movie. If anyone wants to understand what people go through in a "brain fire" situation... this movie is about as good a presentation as I could imagine.

BRAIN ON FIRE is based on a book which is based on the true story of a woman suffering from an affliction of the brain, and her experiences with treatment. The film is not as good as I was expecting, but it still delivery some good moments and solid performances nonetheless.

I supposed I thought this would be better because of the true story aspect, so I was a little bit let down when it ended up feeling a bit like any other Hollywood film. It's still worth watching though, especially if you're interested in the subject matter. I have not read the book so I cannot speak to it on that level, but I'm guessing the book was better. Recommend to fans of medical dramas.

34 metascore?! Really? Were the critics thinking this film was about demonic possession done poorly, not as good as The Exorcist? Incredible that Wonder Woman, a fantasy piece of garbage, fetches a 75 mscore from these same inept and in-the-back-pocket critics. Shame on them!

Brain on Fire is based on an amazing, true and important story. It's not fiction Hollywood Reporter, Gaurdian, Variety, etc. Did you even watch it?!!!

This film hits all the marks; Incredible true story, top notch acting, directing, sound, editing, music, cinematography, yada yada yada. If you don't like it and don't respect it for its integrity at story telling please take your meds

Susannah, a promising reporter with a bright future ahead, suddenly starts facing strange symptoms, that progressively but quickly make her lose the touch with reality, compromising her job, her relationships and her family. The movie, inspirated from a real story, is the dramatic but realistic journey towards a diagnosis and, eventually, a treatment. The story is well put, the acting is on point, and it is very easy to be emotionally involved with the main character and her familiy; what is lacking is the pace, especially at the beginning the movie seems to jump too quickly towards the climax, leaving little time to know Susannah and the other characters.

Wow! Somewhat of the same thing happened to me, but my neurosurgeon and lab techs didn't find an actual diagnosis. I related, except mine came on faster and I had trouble walking straight and holding my urine. Couldn't even hold an entire straight conversation. The clock thing was the last I remember before MRI and surgery.

Suzanna's illness was cured through medication in 2017. Since my problems came couple years before this, now I'm wondering if I had the same.

Anyway, it's an interesting story made into a semi-biographical film.

I was super into this movie start to finish . Very interesting , extremely sad , you can feel the frustration from every party involved and incredible that it is a true story .

I would recommend this to everyone , intense start to finish and you learn a lot .

What was the actual treatment??? Movie was too short, it just ran through the story, and did not adequately address the subject matter. Stories like these need to be told in order to bring awareness to medical complexities that the western medical system all too often fails to solve, so it's disappointing that more time and attention was not spent covering the actual cure.

The film takes it's entirety to tell you the diagnosis. During that time it's simply filled with snippets of symptoms that are tedious and repetitive. The film contains no real narrative other than the attempt at discovering the diagnosis of the main character.

Not everyone will like his movie. No sex or nudity. No action. I remember no profanity. It's a medical mystery. It doesn't rush anything. It just tells the story. The cast was very good. It's a different film, but it's definitely worth the time to watch.

Overall good Netflix movie to pass time found it pretty interesting