Brain on Fire (film)

Brain on Fire is a 2016 biographical drama film directed and written by Irish filmmaker Gerard Barrett. The film is based on Susannah Cahalan's memoir Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness and stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Jenny Slate, Thomas Mann, Tyler Perry, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Richard Armitage. The film follows a New York Post writer who begins to suffer a mysterious illness. After being evaluated extensively by many doctors, she was diagnosed to be psychotic. She would have been committed to the psychiatric ward in a hospital and probably died of encephalitis, if it weren't for the efforts and skills of a Syrian-American neurologist (Souhel Najjar). He empathized with her case, was able to diagnose and treat her rare illness. Principal photography began on July 13, 2015, in Vancouver, British Columbia. It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2016. The film was released on Netflix on June 22, 2018.

Brain on Fire
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGerard Barrett
Produced by
Screenplay byGerard Barrett
Based onBrain on Fire: My Month of Madness
by Susannah Cahalan
Starring
Music byJohn Paesano
CinematographyYaron Orbach
Edited byJC Bond
Production
company
Distributed byNetflix
Release date
  • September 14, 2016 (2016-09-14) (TIFF)
  • June 22, 2018 (2018-06-22) (United States)
Running time
95 minutes[1]
Country
  • Canada
  • Ireland
  • United States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

21-year-old Susannah Cahalan (Chloë Grace Moretz) is a writer for The New York Post who lives with her new boyfriend Stephen (Thomas Mann). Susannah becomes suddenly ill, initially showing symptoms of a common flu like a cough and fatigue, but later begins presenting strange behaviour while in a trance state, such as hearing people say things they haven't said and hypersensitivity to loud noises.

Over time, her behaviour becomes more and more erratic. Finally, Susannah suffers a seizure and seeks medical treatment. The doctor consulted is adamant it is down to Susannah partying too much, working too hard and not getting enough sleep. She moves in with her mother Rhona (Carrie-Anne Moss) and, after an emotional outburst, suffers another seizure, and is taken to a clinic where she undergoes an MRI. Susannah also believes she may have bipolar disorder due to her severe mood changes.

Rhona struggles to care for Susannah, and she later moves in with her father Tom (Richard Armitage) and his new fiancé. During dinner one night, she becomes violent towards them while suffering another outburst, and her parents demand she is hospitalized despite the MRI, EEG, and all other tests showing normal results. In the hospital, one the doctors informs Susannah's parents she could have schizophrenia, and says that if her behavior does not improve, she will be transferred to a psychiatric hospital. They hide the fact from one of her doctor's opinions that she should get transferred to a psychiatric ward because she seems to be psychotic and has had no more seizures.

Susannah gradually becomes catatonic, and Dr. Souhel Najjar (Navid Negahban) is asked to help in investigating her case. He has Susannah draw a clock; she draws it with all of the numbers (1–12) on the right side of the face, leading Najjar to believe that the right hemisphere of her brain is swollen and inflamed. Najjar has her undergo a brain biopsy in order to take cells from her brain for diagnosis. Following the biopsy, it is found that Susannah has a rare disease called anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, a brain inflammation, which Najjar describes as "brain on fire". Najjar begins treatment, which leads to a slow but full recovery of her cognitive abilities.

Seven months later, Susannah is back at work. She presents her first written piece since her recovery to her boss Richard (Tyler Perry). It is well received, and he asks her to start writing a book about her experience, which she later titles 'Brain on Fire'. Before the credits, text on screen confirms Susannah Catalan was the 217th person to be diagnosed with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, but her memoir has helped people all over the world, leading to thousands being diagnosed and treated since. She and Najjar remain close friends.

Cast

Production

On May 1, 2014, Deadline reported that Charlize Theron had acquired the film rights to Susannah Cahalan's 2012 memoir Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness.[6] Dakota Fanning was set to play Cahalan, a young woman who one day wakes up in a hospital with no memory of the events of the previous month.[6][7] Theron would produce along with Beth Kono and A.J. Dix through her banner Denver and Delilah Productions.[6] On January 22, 2015, Irish filmmaker Gerard Barrett was set to write and direct the adaptation, while Rob Merilees of Foundation Features would produce and finance the film.[8] London-based Mister Smith Entertainment sold the film to international distributors at 2015 Berlin Film Festival.[9] Will Poulter was added to the cast on February 4, 2015, to play Cahalan's boyfriend.[10] On May 26, 2015, Thomas Mann and Jenny Slate were reportedly in talks to join the film, where Mann would play Cahalan's boyfriend, replacing Poulter.[3] On June 26, 2015, it was announced that Dakota Fanning had left the project due to scheduling issues, and Chloë Grace Moretz replaced her for the lead role.[2] On July 7, 2015, it was announced that Broad Green Pictures had come on board to produce and finance the film as well as distribute the film in the United States, while Lindsay Macadam would also produce along with producing partner Merilees.[11] On July 16, 2015, Carrie-Anne Moss and Richard Armitage were cast as Cahalan's parents, Rhona Nack and Tom Cahalan, respectively.[5] On July 20, 2015, Tyler Perry joined the film to play Richard, Cahalan's boss at the New York Post.[4]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on July 13, 2015 in Vancouver, British Columbia.[5][11][12] Moretz was spotted filming at the Vancouver General Hospital.[13] Production on the film concluded on August 10, 2015.[14]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2016.[1][15] Shortly after, Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film.[16] It was released on June 22, 2018.[17]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 13%, based on 16 critics, and an average rating of 4.53/10.[18] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 34 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[19]

References
  1. "Brain on Fire". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  2. Kit, Borys (June 26, 2015). "Chloe Grace Moretz to Star in 'Brain on Fire' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  3. Fleming Jr, Mike (May 26, 2015). "Thomas Mann, Jenny Slate Join 'Brain On Fire'; Dakota Fanning Stars In Woman's Descent Into Madness". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  4. Sneider, Jeff (July 20, 2015). "Tyler Perry Joins Chloe Moretz, Jenny Slate in 'Brain on Fire'". TheWrap. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  5. Jaafar, Ali (July 16, 2015). "Carrie-Anne Moss And Richard Armitage Board 'Brain On Fire' Opposite Chloe Grace Moretz". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  6. Fleming, Mike Jr. (May 1, 2014). "Charlize Theron Options 'Brain On Fire' As Star Vehicle For Dakota Fanning". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  7. Scarf, Maggie (January 12, 2013). "BRAIN ON FIRE: My Month of Madness By Susannah Cahalan". The Washington Post. The Washington Post Company. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  8. Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 22, 2015). "'Glassland' Helmer Gerard Barrett Set To Helm Dakota Fanning In Denver & Delilah-Produced 'Brain On Fire' – Sundance". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  9. Barraclough, Leo (January 29, 2015). "Mister Smith Launches Dakota Fanning Starrer 'Brain on Fire'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  10. Barraclough, Leo (February 4, 2015). "Berlin: Will Poulter to Star Alongside Dakota Fanning in 'Brain on Fire'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  11. Kilday, Gregg (July 13, 2015). "Broad Green to Produce Chloe Grace Moretz Starrer 'Brain on Fire'". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  12. SSN Insider Staff (July 13, 2015). "On the Set for 7/13/15: Jennifer Garner Begins Shooting Miracles from Heaven, Michael Bay Wraps 13 Hours & Doug Liman Calls Cut on Mena". SSN Insider. Archived from the original on 2016-04-03. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  13. Brown, Scott (July 16, 2015). "Actress Chloe Grace Moretz researches for 'Brain on Fire' at VGH". The Vancouver Sun. Postmedia Network. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  14. SSN Insider Staff (August 7, 2015). "On the Set for 8/7/15: Katie Holmes Directs Her First Feature 'All We Had', Chloe Grace Moretz Finishes 'Brain on Fire'". SSN Insider. Archived from the original on 2016-10-09. Retrieved June 22, 2018.
  15. Fleming, Mike Jr. (August 16, 2016). "Toronto Fest Rounds Dance Card: Terry George's 'The Promise,' Liev Schreiber In 'The Bleeder,' Terrence Malick Docu Among Pics". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
  16. Thompson, Anne; Winfrey, Graham (February 17, 2017). "Broad Green Pictures Is Missing Release Dates and Angering Filmmakers. Here's Why". IndieWire. Penske Business Media. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  17. Farley, Rebecca (May 23, 2018). "Everything Coming To Netflix In June". Refinery29. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
  18. "Brain on Fire (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 27, 2018.
  19. "Brain on Fire Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 22, 2018.

Brain on fire the book, Susannah Callahan and edited by Ali Calderon.

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