Sublime Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Maybe... if you spend your life worrying... then the only way that your life will have meaning is if what you fear becomes real.
When what you fear becomes real
On the day after his fortieth birthday, the family man and computer analyst George Grieves goes to the Mt. Abaddon Hospital for a routine procedure of colonoscopy with Dr. Sharazi. Along his birthday party, his friends and family tell many cases of medical errors, and George is worried about. After the surgery, George finds that his surgery had complications because of a homonymous patient, and he had received a thoracoscopic sympathectomy instead. While interned, George discloses bizarre and dark secrets about the East Wing of the hospital while his wife and family have to take a decision about his fate.
| Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter | P.J. |
| Cas Anvar | Dr. Sharazi |
| Jordi Caballero | Friar Lazaro Mate |
| Thomas Cavanagh | George Grieves |
| Kyle Gallner | Ned |
| Dan Gerrity | The Bald Man |
| Michael Gregory | The Face |
| Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs | Mandingo |
| George Newbern | Frank/PVS Host |
| Bruce Nozick | Ira |
| David Clayton Rogers | Billy |
| John Rubinstein | Lichterhand |
5.20 out of 10 (2725 votes)
Visitor Reviews
The Filmmakers' POV
posted on 04 Aug 2009Due to the the intensity of the discussion - the extreme nature of the comments on this board, I thought I'd throw this in, for what it's worth: SUBLIME was an experiment on nearly every level. Raw Feed is a Warner Bros. experiment to make "horror" films within the broadest definition of the genre. Films designed to be released directly to DVD. John Shiban, Tony Krantz and Daniel Myrick would each make a film in 15 days for a budget of roughly 1.5 million dollars. Any one of them essentially could do whatever they waned to do - to play into the genre, to satirize it, to bend it. Mr. Krantz's notion was to take the present atmosphere of fear and doubt that has pervaded our world; the very real statistics about "health care"; and the horror of the Terry Schiavo case, and make a movie. My involvement in the film came out of my close friendship with Tony. Inspired by an Ambrose Bierce short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"...the mystery of coma consciousness...the idea that when you close your eyes, your visual experience is limited to what you can remember...we crafted the script. *******SPOILERS******* Trying to capture our version of a fear-and-incident-inspired "coma consciousness" led to the film's intentionally languorous and lurid pace. It was a specific choice. Right or wrong, we were determined to stay true to George's vision: George is stuck in a 10-plus year-long persistent vegetative state within which he is encountering all the things he worries about manifest. His only respite is when he closes his eyes and remembers his "last supper" - and many of his coma-realities are inspired by incidental details experienced that night: Is Jenny actually unhappy in spite of what he wants to believe by "looking into her eyes"? Is she going to leave him? Will his colonoscopy go wrong? Is his daughter experimenting with her sexual identity? Why is his son so fascinated by fear and evil? Is his partner going to stab him in the back? And what about the Unknown? The utterly unaddressed racism, abuse of minorities, and fundamentalist Islamic-terror that we've all been taught to fear? George is a version of a successful Everyman who worries about a lot without choosing to examine much. He thinks it's enough to look in someone's eyes to know their truth. Well, clearly, it isn't. And what happens when you lose complete control of your destiny and are stuck in a world of fear-made manifest? Well, if your guardian angel happens to be a demon manifestation of the "dark unknown" who will guide you through a confrontation with your fears...that journey might just free you to make a tough decision and take control of your destiny again. And that's what George does, tragically, at the end. As for the symbology of the film, it was governed by the myth-base of a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant - it's entirely Judeo-Christian. And we piled it on with a shovel. It's on the nose because it's familiar, learned pretty much during adolescence, and it's all that George knows. It was extremely satisfying to indulge in the lurid Grand Guignol tradition of this film. Commercially, it was risky, because we were straying from the current tradition of the horror genre. Shooting the film in 2:35, framing and pacing the story the way we did was utterly intentional. Could it stand to lose 10-15 minutes for the sake of modern day attention spans? Sure. Is its subject matter, approach and execution inappropriate for the "horror genre"? Maybe. Sublime is more in the tradition of psychological thriller/horror. The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Angel Heart, Jacob's Ladder, Memento, Eyes Wide Shut. Sublime is not a pleasant movie. If it's an experiment that failed for some and succeeded for others, I'm glad. I'd much rather that the film inspired strong opinions - even dismissive ones - than just lie there like another derivative grade B grindhouse gore-fest. Everyone involved in Sublime took a chance...and we're all very proud that we did.
Anguishing, Intriguing and Bizarre Trip to the Innermost Fear
posted on 02 Aug 2009On the day after his fortieth anniversary, the family man and computer analyst George Grieves (Thomas Cavanagh) goes to the Mt. Abaddon Hospital for a routine procedure of colonoscopy with Dr. Sharazi (Cas Anvar). Along his birthday party, his friends and family tell many cases of medical errors, and George is worried about. After the surgery, George finds that his surgery had complications because of a homonymous patient, and he had received a thoracoscopic sympathectomy instead. While interned, George discloses bizarre and dark secrets about the East Wing of the hospital while his wife and family have to take a decision about his fate."Sublime" is an anguishing, intriguing and bizarre trip to the innermost fear. This movie has excellent screenplay, direction, performances and magnificent cinematography, but paradoxically it is one of the most unpleasant and painful films that I have ever seen. My position seems to be contradictory, but it is not. "Sublime" as cinema is amazing and the Kafkian situation of George trapped in a journey to hell is scary and slightly recalls Adrian Lyne's "Jacob's Ladder". I bought this DVD, but I am not sure whether I will see this movie again. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Sublime"
Definitely not what you expect...
posted on 02 Aug 2009At first, I wouldn't have labeled this flick as a horror film. Definitely original, as one user posted.However, as the movie rolls on, you realize that (from subtle hints in the beginning of the movie) George's fears are alive inside this hospital. From his surgery going wrong, amputated limbs, to his wife cheating on him and an African American torturing him.I absolutely loved the ending. Did not see that coming. I thought for sure he was going to wake up after his wife left his side, but this ending fit better.Wouldn't recommend this movie to anyone that hasn't seen independent films previously. For anyone that has: it was fantastic.
Don't Be Fooled By The Cover
posted on 19 Jul 2009It definitely kept my attention throughout. However, I was inspired to write this comment because of the cover art as opposed to the movie itself. Had I based my seeing the movie strictly off of the DVD artwork, I would've never watched it. Hell, I wouldn't have even picked it up to read the back of the box. (My initial reaction was that it was another in the "torture porn" realm.) The imagery is extremely misleading. It's nothing of the sort.My advice is to watch the trailer to get a better idea of the feel for this film. It's much more a slowly-paced reality-turned-on-its-ear type of film, if there is such a genre.Did I like it? Yep.
Interesting but flawed...
posted on 09 Jul 2009I rarely comment on IMDb. However, when I do, it is usually because I feel that a particular film did not receive the consideration it should have. This is the case with Sublime.Is it derivative? yes it is. Crazy so, but as a previous poster stated, very little isn't these days. Jacob's Ladder was one of my favorite films of the 80's. But I'm sure if I watched it again, I would spot numerous plot points that came from elsewhere or ended up elsewhere. Such is life, with several thousand years of recorded history and storytelling. Very little is new under the sun...As for the score, I am dumbfounded as to all of the negative comments. I felt drawn in to the story by this eerie soundtrack. I am reminded of The Shining for some reason. All too often, I feel jarred by the soundtrack of movies. I recently watched an action film set way back when that had a modern, rock-n-roll score. Not terribly appropriate, but it certainly added to the whole experience.As for suspense, I kept wondering where it all was leading. I can usually figure out what's coming. This film kept me guessing until things finally unfolded. I figured out the "falling in a dream part" as soon as I realized he was in a sort of self induced dream state. All in all, although a bit slow, I felt this was an interesting story.Having read more about the Raw Feed experiment, I am even more impressed. 1.5 million is a tiny budget, and I only saw a few parts where this minuscule budget was evident. I have to say Bravo Warner Bros.! It's nice to see some experimentation from Hollywood.In the end, if you have an attention span longer than your typical MTV kid, you just might enjoy two hours with this film.
Falls a little short at the very end
posted on 25 Jun 2009Acting, directing and artwork was in all a very pleasant, or should I say unpleasant, surprise. Especially from a direct to video, low budget movie. The movie explores, and slightly overexposes, the fear of the average upper middle-class white guy. Big scary black men, Muslims, homosexuality, and so forth. Actually the theme is spelled out for us: If a man lives his life in fear, does that life only have meaning if the fears are real, if they come true. No problem so far - great premise for a horror movie. But that's not enough, in all political correctness it was evidently a must to point out that what we are afraid of can also set us free. Fine, I don't mind the message - but not at the cost of a terrific ending. You'll know when you see it. For see it you should.
Please do not be fooled by the front cover of this film!!
posted on 17 Jun 2009If like me you choose films by the cover on the box then you are in for a big shock! This film should have been so much better however is extremely boring in parts (most) and when the final gore does arrive your past caring!! Nothing seems to happen for at least an hour! One day after and i still feel robbed of 2 hours of my life! There is no way that this movie is a horror film. There are a few moments where the director has tried to redeem himself however, sadly fails! The acting is weak and the atmosphere is non-existent! Save yourself some money and buy something else!!Hopefully one day someone will take the plot and make a better movie.
The message
posted on 09 Jun 2009I watched this movie with a mate of mine at midday. We just wanted to stop it every five minutes and put the DVD in the bin. It made no sense, the story was rubbish, the acting was rubbish, the whole thing was rubbish till the last five minutes.WHAT A SHOCK.The whole thing started to make sense, we were sitting there trying to figure things out. I think one will understand this movie through his/her own perspective. Think you could take many messages from this movie on life, love and may other subjects.For me, this movie was all about coma, how our machines can tell us one thing, but what really goes on inside the human head when in coma is another matter and no machine will ever detect that.This movie's not about the acting or the directing, it's about the old debate; keep him on the life support machine or release him from his nightmare? What would you do if that person was someone close to you? Put greed aside, it's not about you and your loss, release them from the misery inside their heads. The sounds within the room causing and creating confusion inside his head. It all started to make sense to me and i do believe this is a great movie.
better release than "Rest Stop" for Raw Feed but still...
posted on 01 Jun 2009Sublime is a story of a man who goes into the hospital for a routine procedure and ends up in a nightmare from which he can't seem to escape. But the viewer isn't really ever sure what's going on because there are flashbacks and apparently alternate realities going on or something too. At times the film is quite compelling but unfortunately, at other times, it seems rather far-fetched. The routine procedure was for a colonoscopy but then there's a bunch of hooey about some unnecessary operations that are performed on immigrants and such to get insurance money, or something to that effect, and our lucky patient accidentally seems to have gotten one of those procedures. At times this plays like a dark, dark comedy, like when the heavily sedated patient regains consciousness in time to see his daughter in a lip-lock with a goth chick, and his daughter says "daddy, are you awake?" and he says "I hope not". The hospital staff are suitably creepy or arrogant, and of course they're above taking responsibility for anything done wrong, so it's rather easy to hate them all, except for Nurse Zoe, who administers tender loving care to make up for her little mishap that caused a flesh-eating bacterial infection. Perhaps best is the black man in the red bow-tie, a male nurse, supposedly, that says his name is "Mandingo", yeah, sure it is. He's probably every patient's worst nightmare, aside from an accidental unnecessary procedure. Overall, this is a notch up from the previous "Raw Feed" production of "Rest Stop", and the intelligence level is also kicked up a notch, but there was something about this film that kept me from enjoying it more that I can't really explain, maybe it seemed a bit haphazard at times, or just plain ridiculous. Don't know. Not bad though, some may like it more than others. 6 out of 10.
Keeps me wondering.....
posted on 22 May 2009True, the acting, photography, and underlying values are very well done, but there are a few loose ends. Don't get me wrong, this film is very good. It just had a few faults which are not uncommon amongst these types of films. One thing, though, stood out among the rest. The genre. This film is labeled as a horror film, but as I was watching it I never noticed any real horror. Sure, it has a few gruesome parts, but that doesn't categorize it as a horror flick.All in all, this film was fantastic. It kept me thinking until the end, which was done perfectly. I give this a rent/buy because not everyone has the same taste.
Excellent Movie... has a "Sixth Sense" feel to it
posted on 18 May 2009I initially got this movie not really expecting that great of a film; like most of you who've seen it I found it at at a video store. This movie isn't like a traditional horror movie; it doesn't rely on much blood and guts to build suspense. The whole movie is about a single man, and everything that happens to him after he goes in to what appears to be a routine operation. The movie itself is VERY slow, so for some people who haven't got the patience to watch the movie until its ending, and are expecting the more traditional hack and slash out of this horror movie, may be disappointed.The movie is full of metaphor, which is one of the things that I *really* liked about it. Nearly everything that happens is symbolic to the main character on at least one level. This will seem a bit much, but that's why I recommend you wait till the end of the movie to judge it.The best way I'd sum this movie up is: A common man, facing very horrible situations; by the end of the movie nearly all of his fears will be revealed... and in the end he must make the ultimate choice. Watch this movie, and keep in mind it moves slowly for a reason.
brilliant movie.. for those who can understand
posted on 08 May 2009I found this movie surprisingly good and I am quite sure it is going to be seen as such for anyone with a taste for oniric quasi-Kafkian moods (understandably deemed "boring" by the usual cheap-thrill lovers) . Yes, it's not a horror movie, not an action movie. It is a well written dark psychological piece that apparently asks too much from the typical movie consumer (i.e. following the thematic dialogs and references in the flash-backs).I also didn't see any problems with the acting or direction -- I generally liked the whole package. The only downside I can see is that perhaps there is, at times, a bit too much blood and pain -- that is, more than some sensitive people can endure to watch (e.g. my wife). Otherwise, this is definitely a decent movie for the intellectual viewer.
awesomest movie ever!
posted on 02 May 2009look i don't use caps or correct grammar so don't hate me for that...sorry. no time to look up, i thought this movie had to be top ten psychological horror ever. Jakob's ladder...not quite but better in some aspects. i have to say i've never felt better about the end of a movie, and i don't even like happy endings. i mean i watched this while cleaning my house and still got hooked by an hour into it. after that i was on edge by the TV the whole time unwilling to move or miss another second, i don't think i'll go recommending it to any of my people because they probably don't appreciate beautiful movies like this. lesson, live and love, don't fear...or the fear will eat you. love this movie, i cant wait for the director to make another. genius. faves. tcm1, evil dead 2, braveheart, 300.
You can never be to careful and your fears are never to far away to happen to you, thats why they are your fears, be cause there possible...
posted on 28 Apr 2009I loved the movie, but I have to ask...his wife didn't really cheat on him with that Doctor and that nurse never screwed him...? Right? It was his fears and thoughts with in him that derived him to project all those images (like a dream) Perhaps what his brother told him outside his house at his birthday party about his wife being happy...Im almost positive it didn't happen but you never know these days. I would appreciate anyones input to just confirm this, you can e-mail me at iSellQuality@yahoo.com...Thank you..I will be reading future comments. If you guys liked this movies I recommend "Funny Games" Starring Naomi Watts and Micheal Pitt, some a little slow at points but so uncomfortably dysfunctional at times....
Too pretentious and too slow to make you care for the message!
posted on 22 Apr 2009I saw this movie last night on DVD. As always, I check IMDb the next day to compare my own views on a movie with others. To my surprise I found, among a great variety of opinions, (as with so many other movies ranging from "briljant" to "garbage"), the very interesting insights by the actual writer of the script of this movie, Erik Jendresen, who added to the sometimes heated discussions his own views on the story, the script and the whole project. It partly confirmed my own view on the movie, and partly helped me to understand better the rest. And surely, the symbolism, the metaphors, the handling of subliminal fears, the criticism on actual social themes - I could easily see that this movie brings all this in a very serious and sincere way, helped by some very fine acting.But the question remains: is this enough to also make it a good movie? Because, let's face it, movies cannot live on a message alone, there's also the package, and that's like the boat on which the message has to sail, in order to land on the designated spot. By my own standards and taste, I'm sorry to say: for me the package didn't work.The biggest problem to me was the very slow pace, in combination with the lack of variation in the sets (we just keep alternating between either the birthday-party or the hospital-room) and in the story: actually nothing much happens during almost two hours. That's just too much (or better: too little!) to keep you on your toes as an audience. This wasn't helped by the fact that Thomas Cavanagh may be an excellent actor, but in this movie cannot win any of my sympathy, he's rather dull and plain looking and in his role he acts cranky and whining and angry, and this may all very well be in line with his character and everything he experiences, but as a viewer you just need someone to relate to, and I missed that.Then for the story. For the first one-third of the movie I was intrigued: what the hell was happening here?! Was someone playing a prank on him? (his brother maybe, for there was all this innuendo between the two of them that we had to witness, which after all didn't seem to have any function whatsoever). Was his wife betraying him with the handsome doctor? Was he kidnapped for his kidney?? Up until then it had all the ingredients for a decent thriller-movie. But when he came to ride with his nurse through the hospital and we get to see all these impossible and evidently unrealistic things happening, it's suddenly totally obvious that were're in a dream or subconscious world. And to me this was the pin that completely burst the bubble of any possible suspense! From that moment on you just don't care anymore: "why bother, it's not supposed to be real anyway!!" The sex-scene, even the cutting of the fingers (clearly aimed to be as graphically horrifying as possible) doesn't affect you anymore. Also the "twist" in the end isn't a surprise at all, and his subconscious suicide doesn't come as a climax, it all sort of ends with a puff.In the end it left me with the feeling that here's a well acted movie about some serious themes, but too pretentious and too little appealing to live up to its own potential.
Put me in the camp with those who hated it.
posted on 20 Apr 2009This "horror" flick was about as scary as my own reflection, which is much more likely to make me laugh than scream. It took me a day after watching this thing to realize what it was actually trying to do, but even then, many of the thoughts the hospitalized man was having simply made no sense in context to the conversations they were supposed to relate to. I really didn't get the whole sadistic orderly thing, and I'm afraid the actor who played that role will always be "boom boom Washington" from "Welcome Back Kotter" for me. I have no idea why the NR rating for this film, as there was nothing in it that would go beyond "R". And as others have already noted, in addition to being neither scary nor suspenseful, it is B-O-R-I-N-G. Didn't even contain any good gore. I'd recommend this to anyone who might be having trouble falling asleep, but those who would rather stay awake should rent almost anything else.
Another good film by Raw Feed.
posted on 04 Apr 2009I loved the movie rest stop which was put out by Raw Feed so I had a feeling I would like sublime as well.I was right!Besides it's catchy title I found that this movie really kept me interested.I didn't find it long or boring like some thought,but then I enjoy movies like this that start out slow and then build up.I don't get why so many people hated this film.It had some nice imagery and good effects without being too graphic and it had interesting symbolism.The movie was well acted by everyone.Thomas Cavanagh gave an excellent,convincing performance of an ordinary(but rich)family man who's fears were realized after a medical procedure went very wrong because of a mix up.I thought the black male nurse Mandingdong was a bit over the top .I didn't think George deserved to be verbally attacked so harshly and implied he's a racist.It nearly changed my opinion of the movie because I found the George character likable and not too unlike people I know.I looked past that part afterwards. This movie did get me thinking about hospitals and how scary it would be if something like that actually happened.I have heard of mix-ups and patients getting the wrong medication and dying.There is fear before going under for an operation. I remember the fear of thinking I wouldn't wake up when I had surgery years ago. It was hard at first to figure out what was happening to George and what was real and what was not.I had to watch the movie twice to make sense out of it.I enjoyed watching the interviews after the movie and hearing what the movie was really about and who!I had a whole different idea of what the movie was about but that's what is interesting about these types of thriller's that make you think. Good writing by Erik Jendresen.And I want to see more movies by Tony Krantz.Raw Feed needs more titles!
Offensive
posted on 04 Apr 2009Contains minor spoilers.I cannot believe what an idiotic ideology the director has.First off, let me state any early reviews that gave this a rating higher than a 5 either was in the picture or have some involvement with the studio.The only reason I gave it a 3 is that any actually had better production values than a standard straight to DVD low budget flick. However, it is unfortunate the characters don't have any depth and there is no way the audience will empathize with the protagonist.It has been mentioned that this is a rip off of Jacobs Ladder. It actually isn't. It is only similar because the main character in both movies were taken to an abandoned wing in a hospital. Of course, it was done 100 time better in Jacobs Ladder.Bigger Spoiler Below: The last 10 minutes of the movie is so offensive to the general population that it is unbelievable. This takes place when an African American starts torturing the 40 year old white male. It is basically the director (and you can read his commends) saying that middle aged white males hate blacks, Iranians, and any other ethnic groups. As a 39 year old white male, I cannot believe the director is so narrowed minded. Most people work with and have friends of multiple races, opposite sex, and from different backgrounds. A movie disguised as horror trying to be the Crash of horror movies is innate.I would like to add just for the sake of argument that if you agreed with the directors point, you are going to go through a lot of boredom to get to the final and predictable end of this movie.This movie fails at every level as an horror movie. The worst thing a horror movie can be is boring and not the slightest bit scary. IN fact, this movie generate no tension and takes it self seriously as ludicrous as it gets. There is not one laugh, one moment of sympathy, or even a single bit of creepiness in the film.My advice is watch Jaccob's Ladder again and try to pretend that this movie was never made.
Not a horror movie, but worth watching...
posted on 29 Mar 2009I wouldn't classify this movie as a horror... It can barely pass as a thriller, and a slow one at that...What it does, is just to show everyone's fear of the hospitals and amplify it... After E.R., House etc. we know way too much about medicine for our own good... I'm a programmer and I've had no problem understanding medical terms, and have also noticed two major mistakes (you can't talk while tubed and you only get local anesthesia for a colonoscopy) The movie is very predictive... Since the start you know that he's either dead or in a coma... There is even a hint at the very beginning of the movie... Also, the pace is very slow but, as I've seen from the directors comment, it was deliberate...All in all it's worth watching... I give it a 6/10 but only if you regard this movie as a drama/thriller... As a horror it fails, since it has no elements of the genre (not enough violence, no scary moments, no surprises, and not enough creepiness) and would get 0/10
Whats the point
posted on 14 Aug 2009I give this flick 3 for the struggling actors trying to keep it floating. Actually a lot of things in this movie are alright except for the fact that there is absolutely no story in this whatsoever. I mean this movie is something like 10 minutes shorter then Rocky Balboa but The new Rocky movie has 100 times more story in it during the first 10 minutes than this miserable excuse for a movie. Was asking myself maybe 20 times during this painful experience the question "whats the point, when is this movie going anywhere ?" ( OK thats really two questions if you are going to get technical on me ). The actors are good the sets are good the lighting is good a lot of everything in this movie is good except for the mere fact that it has no point. I found it to be a complete waste of time and was often wishing for a fast forward button. So save yourself the pain and go and watch anything else with these otherwise good actors .