Fear of Rain had an interesting concept and if this were some family melodrama, it might’ve worked but throwing in a mystery as an almost side plot, just never quite gelled.
Fear of Rain
(2021)
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller, Drama
Lionsgate| PG13 – 109 min. – $21.99 | February 16, 2021
Date Published: 02/21/2021 | Author: The Movieman
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Lionsgate provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3/5 |
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Note: This review contains major spoilers! Plot Synopsis: Rain Burroughs (MADISON ISEMAN) has early-onset schizophrenia, a condition that not only causes her to see vivid hallucinations but also puts a strain on her parents (KATHERINE HEIGL, HARRY CONNICK, JR.). When she meets Caleb (ISRAEL BROUSSARD), a charmingly awkward new student at school, Rain finally feels she has a lifeline to normalcy. But as Rain starts to find clues that her neighbor has kidnapped a child—and Caleb is the only one who believes her—Rain must fight to figure out who and what is real while also battling the overwhelming forces that haunt her daily life. Will anyone believe her—before it’s too late? Review: Fear of Rain is a mix of family melodrama with a mystery-thriller, akin to something along the lines of Disturbia. As it is, it’s not a bad idea; just the execution wasn’t always the best. However, and acknowledging I don’t know a whole lot of schizophrenia, the filmmakers seemed to do a good job at putting the symptoms on screen, including paranoia and hallucinations, the latter an important element to the plot. One of the bigger issues, beyond the blending of two genres, is one of the twists. Going into spoiler territory here so you’ve been warned. It’s revealed towards the end that Rain’s mother, Michelle, played by Katherine Heigl, is in fact one of Rain’s hallucinations. It’s not a bad twist but for one thing, there’s a scene early on where Michelle is bed with her husband (Connick, Jr.) and she says something to effect of “I’m sorry” and her husband apparently dismissed her by turning away. The problem is, Rain isn’t in this scene thus it was only there to trick the viewer. It’s pretty much a cheat only to throw off the scent (I had suspected Michelle was an illusion but thought otherwise it because of that scene). All that being said, the acting at least wasn’t bad. Heigl is okay but kind of sleepwalks her role, however the young actors – Madison Iseman and Israel Broussard – turned in decent performances, don’t know what the future holds for either, but hope they get an opportunity with a better script. Even Harry Connick, Jr. had a couple fine scenes in a bit of a limited role. The film was written and directed by Castille Landon and marks her third film following Albion: The Enchanted Stallion (never heard of it) and Apple of My Eye. The direction itself actually is decent, showing the world Rain is in and how her schizophrenia affects her, kind of similar (from what I remember) to A Beautiful Mind. Again, if this aspect was the focal point and remove the mystery subplot, Fear of Rain might’ve made for a nice romantic-drama. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2½/5 |
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This release comes with a slip cover and inside a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Included is Collective Fear: A Conversation (32:51) featurette, a virtual event with the cast (Connick, Jr., Iseman, Broussard, Bondurant) and writer/director, and some Deleted Scenes (4:37). |
VIDEO – 4¼/5 |
| Lionsgate releases Fear of Rain onto Blu-ray where it’s presented with a 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio. The 1080p high-definition transfer looks quite good, detail is relatively sharp for close-ups and decent enough for the more distant shots. Colors are well balanced going towards a bit of a darker, richer look. Won’t say it looks phenomenal or anything but on par with any new release. |
AUDIO – 4½/5 |
| The disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which was surprisingly strong right from the start with a blood-curdling scream as our main character is being chased down. Outside of that scene, there is some solid depth especially whenever Rain’s schizophrenia is in high gear, well done ambient noises making use of the surrounds. Meanwhile, dialogue comes across with good clarity via the center channel. |
OVERALL – 3/5 |
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Fear of Rain had an interesting concept and if this were some family melodrama, it might’ve worked but throwing in a mystery as an almost side plot, just never quite gelled. However, I will say the performances from both Madison Iseman and Israel Broussand weren’t at all bad and I’d say this is worthy of a rental, not much more. |