Movie Review: The Ward (2010)
Synopsis: In 1966, after being arrested for burning down a house and having no memory of why she did it, Kristen is sent to North Bend Psychiatric Hospital in Oregon. While there, she begins seeing the ghost of a former patient and realizes other patients in the ward have been disappearing, likely victims of the spirit. To make matters worse, the hospital staff seems to know and doesn't care.
Who's in it? The movie stars Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker, Laura-Leigh and Jared Harris.
The premise is an intriguing one. In addition to the mystery surrounding the vengeful spirit, there was also a mystery about Kristen's (Heard) past and why she had committed arson. On top of it, the main psychiatrist, Dr. Stringer (Harris) was one of those guys who could be genuinely trying to help the girls under his care or up to something evil. There were clues that pointed to both. The same could be said about Nurse Lundt (Susanna Burney) who seemed to be tough and mean but also didn't do anything I'd say crossed a line.
The fact Kristen clearly had mental health issues and was refusing to take her meds also played a factor. It was unclear if what she was experiencing was real or just a hallucination as a result of that.
The movie was a little slower paced than I would have preferred but did a good job of making up for that by giving a decent introduction to the other patients locked in the ward, so it was easier to care if harm befell them.
The film does have an interesting twist, though it was admittedly a bit predictable. This was through no fault of its own, it wasn't as though there was anything that let the cat out of the bag. I've just seen enough similar films (quite a few made after this one) that had the same twist, and that made it a lot easier to figure it out. Though, to be fair, it also raised a lot more questions for me that I won't get into in this review because it would give away too many spoilers.
Final Opinion: Other than the fact I was able to figure out the ending and spoil the surprise a bit, I found I did enjoy this movie. I'd recommend it.
My Grade: A
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