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It's pretty clear early on that there are paranormal forces at work, yet this dash of the fantastic provides the story's center with a glaring dilemma: How are we supposed to reconcile our sympathy regarding the plight of the ghost with our disgust at how thoroughly it's destroying the innocent Miranda's life? Then again, it seems most everything in this doltish drama needs to be accepted with a shrug, from the cheap chiller elements fostered by director Mathieu Kassovitz -- including the harmless animal that appears out of nowhere to jolt impressionable audience members -- to the idiocy of its characters. This includes a security guard who helps Miranda escape by giving her the keys to his car, solely because in those blissful days before she was deemed a murderer, she always was kind enough to inquire about his wife! Miranda's patients may indeed be not guilty by reason of insanity, but Gothika is clearly guilty by reason of stupidity.
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