‘Some voices you can’t outrun’
Fear of Rain is a 2020 American horror film about a teenage girl with schizophrenia who struggles with vivid and terrifying hallucinations. She begins to suspect her neighbour has kidnapped a child. The only person who believes her is Caleb – a boy she isn’t even sure exists…
Written and directed by Castille Landon, the movie stars Katherine Heigl (Bride of Chucky), Madison Iseman (Annabelle Comes Home), Israel Broussard (Happy Death Day) and Harry Connick Jr.
Reviews:
“A talented cast with some good chemistry is utterly wasted in a movie that isn’t sure what it wants to be, so it tries to be everything at once. Fear of Rain is infuriating because it has some glimmers of hope but ends up a confusing mess. Clichéd and bland, It gives itself multiple directions to go, and it stumbles into the worse one.” Arrow in the Head
” …the viewer is always a few steps ahead of a nagging, thuddingly obvious story reveal that’s secondary but still significant to the film’s central mystery. Despite the dedication of its cast to distract from the contrived gimmicks of the script, Fear of Rain is mildly insulting and grows repetitive.” The Artful Critic
” …struggles to cope with its identity crisis, as it can’t decide if it wants to be a heartfelt depiction of schizophrenia, coming-of-age story, teen romance or Rear Window-ish thriller, failing to work as a mix of all, plus, the familiar twist in the last act appears too gimmicky to leave the emotional impact it aims.” CineMarvellous!
” …it’s a completely soulless and offensive film that believes it’s “shattering stereotypes” on mental illness, but only propagates them for 104 minutes. Not to mention that it contains an extremely recycled story we’ve all seen before, done in better movies, that had a better understanding of how to portray mental illness on screen, in a way that didn’t feel manipulative and/or stereotypical.” Coastal House Media
“If you think about it too hard, using Rain’s condition and its visual and auditory hallucinations as fodder for a few thrills and a “twist” toward the end can seem a little dishonest, somewhat cheapening Rain’s struggle. But since Fear of Rain is shown primarily from Rain’s point of view, her condition and the movie’s plot devices can somewhat meld together.” Common Sense Media
“Fear of Rain fits the criteria for a movie that adheres to pre-approved protocol for standard story structure. In addition to featuring mid-level names that most people recognize but don’t break the bank, the soundtrack squeezes in songs from excellent artists like Laura Marling and Caroline Rose. A crank could complain that the twist can be seen from six miles away, or that characters rely on the threat of institutionalization ten too many times to wrangle Rain’s behavior.” Culture Crypt
“This movie is a thriller and goes for a high octane, violence-fueled resolution to all the stories. There is one twist which I didn’t see coming and seemed like a pointless diversion at the time, although in hindsight it was telegraphed in advance and actually added a really nice dimension to a Rain-Caleb scene. By the time the two other twists were finally revealed, we already knew them.” Film Gate Reviews
“There’s a lot of trickery in Fear of Rain. That’s to be expected of a thriller, but those expectations make the movie a bit too disingenuous in its attempt to sincerely and compassionately examine a character with mental health issues.” Mark Reviews Movies
“Fear of Rain tries to create a sincere lead character and Iseman’s organic performance certainly gives credibility, but the film’s insistence that it understands mental illness – which judging by the film is open for debate – becomes an irksome hurdle to overcome. That condescending nature overshadows several predictable twists during the film’s rushed climax…” The Only Critic
“A schizophrenic young woman struggles to cope with reality in Fear of Rain, a vaguely distasteful new thriller that uses a real psychiatric illness as a vehicle to drive its narrative forward. An empathetic lead performance from Madison Iseman and a half-hearted attempt to thoughtfully explore her character’s disorder keep this from being a total dud.” The Prague Reporter
“Trying unsuccessfully to have its cake and eat it, it proceeds through a series of reality-shifting twists throughout its latter half, but this strategy is just as misguided as its efforts to educate the audience. Most of the characters and relationships are so woefully underdeveloped that these entirely arbitrary, sub-Shyamalan rug-pulls are unable to have any impact on the story.” Slant
Release date:
Lionsgate will release on Fear of Rain on Digital, On-Demand, Blu-ray and DVD on February 12th 2021.
Cast and characters:
Katherine Heigl … Michelle Burroughs
Madison Iseman … Rain Burroughs
Israel Broussard … Caleb
Harry Connick Jr. … John Burroughs
Eugenie Bondurant … Dani McConnell
Enuka Okuma … Doctor Elyn Pangloss
Julia Vasi … Alexa
Lindsay Lamb … Cam
Ashley Abrams … Sylvie
Bianca D’Ambrosio … Cinda
Chiara D’Ambrosio … Linda
Brian Yang … Doctor Yang
Keil Oakley Zepernick … Yellow Eyes
Isabella Abiera … Voices in Rain’s Head
Elvia Hill … Medical Student
Filming locations:
St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida
Working title:
I Saw a Man with Yellow Eyes
Official trailer:
Clips:
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MOVIES & MANIA rating:
