SYNOPSICS
Sum of Existence (2005) is a English movie. Jon Cohen has directed this movie. Brooke Anderson,Simone Kessell,Josh Picker,Angela Carmichael are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2005. Sum of Existence (2005) is considered one of the best Thriller,Crime,Drama movie in India and around the world.
LIZ MURPHY is a normal teenager. Goes to school, has friends, has enemies. Has parents, MACK and KAREN. While she may not come from a wealthy family, they struggle through, and do care for each other. But Liz also has the unwanted attention of a stalker, ALEX MILLER, an orderly at the hospital who's wife has just left him. Against the backdrop of her unemployed father's struggles with her mother's newly ended affair, Liz is attacked and raped, and left to die. Rescued and brought to hospital, she is unable to deal with the assault, and tries to kill herself. Seeing no other solution, the parents enlist the help of Dr. JULIET KING, young and ambitious psychiatrist, who uses a new therapy to cure Liz. It is not revealed as to what the therapy is... Two months later, and Liz seems fine, believing that she was in a coma for two months in hospital, and that the scars on her wrists are the attacker's attempts to kill her. But all around her, the people who knew about the rape are still ...
Sum of Existence (2005) Trailers
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Sum of Existence (2005) Reviews
A fantastic film.
Director/Writer Jon Cohen really tried to produce a good film, and did so with flying colours. Elizabeth Murphy(portrayed by Australian actress-Brooke Anderson) is very believable, she is just like every 16/17 year old, with a twist. Brooke "Mikey" Anderson brings Liz to life, you can really believe what is going on. While I was watching this movie, I could hear myself thinking what you would think if you were there. Its amazing what a bit of effort and determination will do when it comes to making a movie. Congratulations must go out to Jon Cohen, Tim Maddocks, Brooke Anderson and the rest of the crew involved. Lets hope the team does another Australian film soon!
The perils of hypnosis
Sum of Existence is an extraordinary film that breaks with one of the most cliché'd traditions of psychological thrillers -- the idea that hypnosis is a panacea that can be used to solve problems. In fact, the story centers around the way that the use of hypnosis takes a girl who has already been brutally wounded and unbalances her in ways that almost get her -- and others -- killed. Liz Murphy is a normal, vivacious teen, who was brutally assaulted by a stranger and left to die. Months after the attack, she lives in a strange sea of denial and confusion. Attempting to go about her normal life, she doesn't understand why so many people treat her differently, even her best friend and her parents, nor why she's periodically haunted by strange, frightening flashes of... something... What Liz doesn't know is that, in the aftermath of her attack, she broke down so completely that, as a last resort, her parents turned to a psychiatrist who used hypnosis to block her memories. In the short term, it helped her to recover. But it's left her behaving in ways that her friends and family find disturbingly out of character, and THEY are still dealing with the fallout of what happened to her, even if she no longer is. Worst of all, her assailant is furious that she's forgotten him, and is determined to make her remember. Although a lot of the conventions of the traditional thriller are in place, including the cat-and-mouse game that soon develops between Liz and her stalker, what truly distinguishes this film is the way it delves into the minds of its characters. It explores Liz's fragile state, and the way simply burying a trauma such as hers only worsens its impact. It explores the mind of her psychiatrist, a woman who becomes far too attached to her patients and can't always discern (because she's lost her objectivity) what is truly best for them. And it explores the mind of the twisted psychopath who has become obsessed with Liz's destruction. Brooke Anderson is a luminous actress, definitely one to watch. She makes Liz's plight very real, and yet manages, even when Liz is at her worst, to imbue the character with a quiet strength that comes to the fore. Liz is nobody's victim, and her mind is nobody's playground, and watching her take back her life and her sanity is a very triumphant experience.
Sum of it's parts
they say that the sum of a films parts shouldn't equal more than it's whole. This is true with Sum of Existence. It has amazingly strong acting, strong story line, strong characters, strong direction, strong photography, but something about it doesn't quite fit. It could be the edit. The film is an intriguing journey through a post-rape mind that has been hypnotized to forget. The protagonist Liz, is played by a talented young actress, and gives us an interesting character to follow during the film. The concept is brilliant. Cohen, (the writer/director) has done his job in creating a believable and realistic yet somehow surreal world in which to tell his story. An odd one to call. This film has so many strengths in so many areas, but as a whole, something about it just doesn't gel with me. Odd. I did enjoy watching it though, so give it an 8/10.
Award winning
Although I only saw the rough cut, I sat glued to the screen through all 120 minutes and felt that I was witnessing the story first hand. The movie drew you in and evoked the correct emotions at the right time. If this does not get any award nominations, I will be greatly surprised. I was impressed by the acting performed from both the seasoned actors and the relative new-comers to the screen. I am looking forward to seeing more of this writer / director's works in the future. It was one of the best movies I have seen for years.
Remember to forget this!
I appreciate privately made films, I do it myself, but sometimes you wonder even what the cameramen were thinking when they were filming! Before I go into the bad details, the writer is due some credit. Sure, it is an intriguing idea, kidnapping and rape does create a good drama, but they have to be handled correctly. I think J.D. Cohen did have the right intentions for the type of film he was trying to craft, but as I sat there in its first screening, I found myself laughing (along with most of the audience present) at all the wrong times. The climax was ridiculous, the plot was mostly spelt out for the audience making you feel like an idiot, and the execution of the script was just plain...crap. How's this for an example, as Alex (the attacker) corners Liz (the victim), near the end of the film, in a security car park, Liz's friend Michelle stands outside the car park screaming to get in to help her friend - it's at this point a writer must find some way for his Michelle character to gain entry thus enabling her to save her friend - and what direction did he take? A couple making out open the carparks door for her... They don't help her plight at all, if someone was being attacked I'm sure that people wouldn't just turn a blind eye like this, and then all of a sudden the couple are gone in later minutes... What the ****? Frankly, I want that 2 hours back. Did it really need to be 2 hours long? No. The hospital scenes were way too long and drawn out, almost physically painful to sit through, and what was with that Hannah character? You can always tell when a writer has also taken the liberty of directing because scenes are just so damn long, in the end you're sacrificing pace for details, and thats where you lose me and the rest of the audience. Now I don't usually write reviews on IMDb, but this movie was just shite! And for a drama/thriller, I was laughing way too hard at other aspects of the film as I walked out... Is that a good thing? No. It is not.