''Clinical'' is a 2017 American horror

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by Alistair Legrand and written by Luke Harvis and Alistair Legrand. The film stars

Vinessa Shaw Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw (born July 19, 1976) is an American film actress and model. She began her career as a child actor, and had her breakout role in Disney's 1993 Halloween comedy-fantasy film '' Hocus Pocus''. Shaw also appeared in ''Ladybu ...

Kevin Rahm Kevin Rahm (born January 7, 1971) is an American actor known for his television roles as Kyle McCarty on '' Judging Amy'', Lee McDermott on '' Desperate Housewives'', and Ted Chaough on ''Mad Men''. Early life and education Rahm attended and ...

India Eisley India Joy Eisley (born October 29, 1993) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Ashley Juergens in the ABC Family television series ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'', Eve in the 2012 film '' Underworld: Awakening'', Saw ...

Aaron Stanford Aaron Stanford (born December 27, 1976) is an American actor best known for his roles as Pyro in '' X2'' and '' X-Men: The Last Stand'', and Doug in the 2006 remake of '' The Hills Have Eyes''. From 2010 to 2013, he starred as Birkhoff in '' N ...

Nestor Serrano Nestor Serrano (born November 5, 1955 in The Bronx, New York) is an American film and television actor. He is known for playing Navi Araz in the fourth season of '' 24''. He also appeared as Emilio Loera in the fourth season of the Cinemax se ...

Sydney Tamiia Poitier Sydney Tamiia Poitier ( ) is an American television and film actress. Early life and family Born in Los Angeles on November 15, 1973, Poitier is the daughter of the late Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poitier and Canadian actress Joanna Shimk ...

, and Wilmer Calderon. The film was released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on January 13, 2017.

Plot

Dr. Jane Mathis (

) is a psychiatrist and an expert at confrontational therapy. Two years prior, she had a patient, Nora Green, who attacked her and

attempted suicide A suicide attempt is an attempt to die by suicide that results in survival. It may be referred to as a "failed" or "unsuccessful" suicide attempt, though these terms are discouraged by mental health professionals for implying that a suicide resu ...

in her office. As a result, Dr. Mathis developed

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on a ...

and

sleep paralysis Sleep paralysis is a state, during waking up or falling asleep, in which one is conscious but is completely paralyzed. During an episode, one may hallucinate (hear, feel, or see things that are not there), which often results in fear. Episodes ...

, which led her to seek help from Dr. Terry Drummond. She has also begun to date a police officer named Miles Richardson. Against Dr. Terry's advice, she continues her practice as a psychiatrist, albeit not prescribing medication. She reluctantly agrees to see a new patient, Alex, whose face was disfigured from a car accident. One night, he is seen sleepwalking inside her house, prompting Jane to call the police. Alex persuades her to continue their sessions, appealing to her expertise and understanding. In flashbacks, it is revealed that Nora began seeing Jane because she was being abused by her father. After confronting him, Nora attacked Jane, who received severe stab wounds to her arms. In present-day, Jane visits the institution where Nora was hospitalized and is informed that Nora was discharged due to lack of money after her father's death. She sees footage of Nora's sessions at the institution, which reveals Nora's violent rage anytime she speaks about her father. Jane installs security cameras around her home, and reveals to Alex her previous failure with Nora, chalking it up to relying too heavily on medication. Alex recalls more of his accident; after helping pull a couple from their totaled car, he noticed his daughter wandered into the path of an oncoming truck. Both were struck, but only his daughter was killed. Strange things continue to occur in Jane's house, such as dirty footprints and bloody photographs. Miles notices that someone has tampered with the security system, as whole hours of footage are missing. Jane refuses to press charges against Nora for fear that she will be sent back to the institution and drugged. She later steals prescriptions from Dr. Terry, having run out of her own medication. Alex shows up at her house even though Jane had canceled all her patients and she explains that there needs to be boundaries between doctor and patient. In another bout of sleep paralysis, Jane relives the horror of Nora's attack two years ago. When she awakes disoriented, Nora appears and attacks Jane. In self defense, Jane stabs Nora in the head, killing her. Jane is institutionalised, enduring confusion and heavy sedation. The resident psychiatrist shows her security footage from her home, which reveal that during a drug-induced hysteria, she attacked and killed Miles. She is to be held in the institution until her trial. Days pass and one night, Jane sees Nora hanging from the tree outside. Her friend Clara visits but when she leaves, she is tasered by Alex. The psychiatrist condescendingly explains to Jane that Nora had said she killed her father but her father was alive and was paying her hospital bills. He says Nora killed herself by hanging after she left the hospital and accuses Jane of driving Nora to insanity. Jane realizes Nora's father is Alex and breaks out of the institution. In the same way as Clara, she is tasered. She wakes up in her home and sees Clara dead. Alex enters and explains that he wanted to punish her for trying to help Nora, his daughter. Nora had attacked him in self defense, which led to his disfigured face, and he staged the car accident to explain his injuries and make it onto the donor list for a skin graft. He also stopped paying Nora's bills to get her out, and made her break into Jane's house and psychologically torment her. The night of the murder, Alex had broken in and drugged Jane, which led her to accidentally kill Miles. Jane finds Dr. Terry in a pool of blood. While attempting to escape through the window, she is pulled back by Alex. She grabs at his face and pulls off the grafted skin as she falls. She returns to the house and sees Alex sitting on the couch, faceless and presumably dead.

Cast

as Dr. Jane Mathis *

as Alex *

as Nora Green *

as Miles Richardson *

as Dr. Saul *

as Clara * Wilmer Calderon as Greg *

William Atherton William Atherton Knight (born July 30, 1947) is an American actor, best known for portraying Richard Thornburg in '' Die Hard'' and its sequel and Walter Peck in ''Ghostbusters''. Early life Atherton was born in Orange, Connecticut, the son ...

as Terry Drummond *

Dion Basco Dion may refer to: People Ancient *Dion (mythology), a king in Laconia and husband of Iphitea, the daughter of Prognaus *Dion of Syracuse (408–354 BC), ancient Greek politician *Dio of Alexandria, first century BC, ancient Greek philosoph ...

as Jeremy Platt *Adrian Flowers as Charlie

Release

The film was released on

on January 13, 2017.

References

External links

* * {{rotten-tomatoes, clinical 2017 films 2017 horror films 2010s Christmas horror films 2017 horror thriller films American horror thriller films American Christmas horror films English-language Netflix original films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films