Brain on Fire

A healthy young reporter starts having psychotic episodes and seizures. Initially doctors diagnosed her with psychiatric problems. This movie teaches us to question the diagnoses our doctors give us when they can't give you the answers that you know deep down are right. Many treat symptoms with medication but don't go to the cause. It took a specialist doctor who interestingly in this time of the crisis in the Middle East is of Syrian origin to find the root of the problem which was a relatively newly diagnosed auto immune disease and treat her. After all the struggle with the missed or wrong diagnosis it would have been nice to see the specific treatment she got to get better.

Chloe Grace Moretz acts very convincingly throughout the very stages of her illness. I can't think of another actress who could have done it better. She has grown even prettier too. Strange casting of her parents Carrie Anne Moss and Richard Armitage both dark haired - maybe it was like that in real life.

Well done - a movie that needs to be seen by many.

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 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.

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.