Girl Interrupted movie review- "Have you ever been blue?"

It's Winona Ryder's world and we're just living in it. 

Director: James Mangold 

Writer: James Mangold, Susanna Kaysen, Lisa Loomer, Anna Hamilton Phelan  

Cinematographer: Jack Green

Cast: Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Clea DuVall, Brittany Murphy, Jared Leto

Year: 1999

Based on Susanna Kaysen's book of the same name, Girl, Interrupted follows the story of a young woman, Susanna (the breath-taking Winona Ryder), in the late 1960s who finds herself being shipped away to a renowned mental institution for troubled young women. In the end, Susanna must choose to either live in the world outside or with the people inside, like Lisa (the amazing Angelina Jolie). 

Girl Interrupted Syndrome- a phenomenon where an angsty teen believes that they are incredibly unique or different; they find their depression to be cinematic in a "starving artist" way and believe that it makes them interesting, nonchalant, misunderstood, and an effortless cool girl. 

I would say at many points of my life, even maybe now, I was or maybe still am a victim of this so-called Girl Interrupted Syndrome, or at least I had/have a few symptoms of it. I went through a period of time, maybe around the summer of last year, 2021, when I read the book in my garden underneath the hot summer sun. It was my second book of the summer, my first being The Bell Jar. As you can probably tell, I might not have been in the best frame of mind when I read both books back to back. Girl, Interrupted came at a point in my life of uncertainty; I spent days moping around, unsure about my future, consumed by the idea that I had peaked academically, physically and mentally within my life now that I had finished college and that life was to go downhill from then on. And although it is almost a year from this point in my life, Girl, Interrupted haunts me still as a reminder, a blue cavernous chapter in a clearly odd part of my life. I do, however, believe that within its 127-minute run time, the film had the ability to just happen to me; rather than just watching and observing the very grains of the film blur together, you, in the end, find yourself absorbed into the hollowed visuals of Mangold's world. I felt it unravel inside my throat like a cold ribbon whilst the insides of my mind began to slowly split apart. Girl, Interrupted tunnelled deep within me, scraping away at the firey flesh of my heart and finally emerging from my lungs up to my eyes. It was as if it had been submerged intoxicatingly underwater, now finally free through the streams of tears as I reached the end credits. There is nothing more I want from a film than a truly visceral reaction, something which hangs heavily from the heartstrings dangling on the very ridges of your mind. Girl, Interrupted seems to just make more sense the older you get. I'm constantly re-visiting Girl, Interrupted, and every time it instils within me a different visceral reaction from the one I've had before. 

Ok, now enough with the theatrics and poetics, let's get into the 'real' review:

Can someone please get Lisa some vaseline or some chapstick, please?!? My girl is out here suffering!

Any movie that opens with a Simon & Garfunkel song is a good movie in my books. Girl, Interrupted just makes me want to stare at a wall for an hour, maybe even 4. I always find it funny how Girl, Interrupted has to constantly remind you that it's set in the late 60s as every five minutes, you're bombarded with a generic popular song from the decade even though the film seems incredibly ingrained in 90s culture using popular stars such as Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Brittany Murphy and Clea DuVall. I mean, apart from the music and the dated ideas of mental illness within and amongst women, this film could easily be set in the 90s if you told me it was. Brittany Murphy seemed to be the only one who understood the assignment. I would also like to know the budget for cigarettes because this film could easily give me lung cancer. Like Winona Ryder smokes over a thousand cigarettes in this movie! (That's not the real number, but it felt like she did). Every time I get more and more impressed with the performances and the screenplay, what they developed from a simple slew of feelings and thoughts from the book is admirably masterful; I haven't seen such a solid depiction of characters dealing with depression and anxiety within recent years, being that they are rarely depicted. To acknowledge this and therapy, while an extremely difficult experience and process, I'm happy that Girl, Interrupted exists, even if it does have some clear flaws; not every character is supposed to be likeable, and not every main character is supposed to be likeable. Winona didn't try to make Susanna likeable; she plays a really flawed and convincing role and doesn't try to compete with Angelina, which is a nice balance to see because, usually, actors are constantly competing within their craft. Angelina could punch me in the face, and I'd thank her. There's a level of authenticity, being an adaption from a memoir, but the emotions feel tangible even though it does slowly meander into the melodrama of a character's so-called 'breakdown'. However, I do believe that these characters are strictly textbook cases; not every mentally ill person laughs at a dead body, mental illness is not completely black and white, and I felt like that depth was lacking within shallow characters. I still feel like something is missing, some parts dragged, and some parts just felt empty, but I just can't seem to put my finger on it. But I still feel like this is such a powerful film that will surely incite a change within you. The inclusion of flashbacks was fantastic and really fit with the protagonist's own struggles with time and obsessing over past events. Not a Jared Leto jumpscare!! Why does this man show up in every 90s movie? I feel like I'm being haunted by him! Also, why does Jared Leto look like Zac Efron in this movie?? Like, come on, Zac, show me the time machine. Hand it over! Let me jump back to the 60s and experience Girl, Interrupted for myself. I need some life-altering shit to happen!

Girl, Interrupted is so beautiful in so many different ways, with a powerfully poetic and insane third act. James Mangold's adaptation of Girl, Interrupted is inspiring! The engrossing script, fluid visuals and wonderful soundtrack make it very easy to look past the film's few faults. This film is my bible! At the end of the day Girl, Interrupted is just a yassified version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. 

Rating: 4.5/5

Favourite quotes:

"When you don't want to feel...death can seem like a dream. But, seeing death...really seeing it, makes dreaming about it fucking ridiculous."

"If I could have any job in the world I'd be a professional Cinderella." 

"A word of advice, don't point your fucking finger at crazy people!"

"I know what it's like to want to die. How it hurts to smile. How you try to fit in but you can't. How you hurt yourself on the outside to try to kill the thing on the inside."