Review and Analysis of Flatliners (2017) in the 31 Days of Dread Horror Series

Summary

In this video, Peter A. DeLuca, a dedicated film enthusiast hosting the annual “31 Days of Dread” horror movie event, offers an in-depth review of the 2017 remake of Flatliners. Streaming free on Tubi, the film is analyzed in the context of its original 1990 predecessor and the 2000 sequel. DeLuca explores how the remake balances between honoring the core themes of the original—life, death, regret, and trauma—and modernizing its tone and cinematic style. He highlights the shift from the gothic and dramatic atmosphere of the 1990 version to a brighter, more polished “Apple Store”-style aesthetic in 2017. The cast, including Ellen Page (before transition), Diego Luna, Kiersey Clemons, and Nina Dobrev, is praised, particularly Luna and Clemons for their compelling performances. Despite some narrative and character development choices falling short (notably Nina’s jellyfish subplot and the absence of Kiefer Sutherland’s original character continuity), the film is recognized as a thoughtful reinterpretation that complements the original well. DeLuca concludes with a recommendation to watch the 2017 Flatliners as part of the “31 Days of Dread” lineup and previews upcoming content on his channel, emphasizing community engagement and support.

Highlights

• 🎬 Flatliners 2017 is freely available on Tubi with no login required.
• 👻 The 31 Days of Dread event features one horror movie daily throughout October.
• 🤔 The remake explores themes of truth, trauma, and regret consistent with the 1990 original.
• 🌟 Diego Luna and Kiersey Clemons deliver standout performances.
• ⚡ The 2017 film presents a modern and bright cinematic style contrasting the original’s gothic tone.
• 💔 Key plot points: Ellen Page’s character’s shocking death and unresolved emotional arcs bring depth.
• ✅ Overall, the remake complements the original and is recommended for horror fans.

Key Insights

• 🎥 Contrast Between Original and Remake Eliminates Nostalgia Bias
  The 2017 Flatliners serves as both a homage and a modernization, opting for a streamlined and more grounded narrative compared to the theatrical and dramatic approach of the 1990 film. This allows viewers to appreciate the original’s gothic style while engaging fresh realism in the remake’s storytelling.
• 🧠 Exploration of Trauma and Regret Remains Central
  Both films focus on medical students confronting personal hang-ups through near-death experiences. The remake reframes these internal conflicts in a subtler, less exaggerated manner, appealing to contemporary sensibilities about psychological trauma and catharsis.
• 🌟 Casting Dynamics Elevate the Film
  Diego Luna, Kiersey Clemons, and James Norton bring charisma and depth to their roles, especially Luna, who is noted as the best character actor in the film. Clemons’s screen presence suggests a rising star ready for leading roles in major franchises, emphasizing the importance of strong casting in horror remakes.
• ⚡ Visual Style Reflects Cultural Shifts in Filmmaking
  Where the 1990 version felt dark and gothic, the 2017 remake uses bright, clean visuals likened to an “Apple Store” aesthetic, signaling a departure from horror’s traditional visual style towards something slicker and more contemporary, widening its appeal beyond niche horror audiences.
• 🔄 Narrative Continuity and Character Legacy Affect Viewer Engagement
  The absence of Kiefer Sutherland’s character continuity disappoints longtime fans and lessens the remake’s impact as a direct sequel or continuation. This highlights the value of legacy elements in rebooting franchises to retain loyal audiences.
• 🧩 Subplot Execution Can Make or Break Suspense and Engagement
  The film’s weakest narrative element is noted as the jellyfish subplot involving Nina Dobrev’s character, which undermines the overall tension. This points to the importance of cohesive subplots that enhance rather than detract from thematic focus.
• 🕯 Supporting Festive Programming Builds Community and Retains Audience
  DeLuca’s broader programming, such as the November “Thanksflicking” and December’s Christmas-themed content, shows a savvy understanding of audience engagement by blending seasonal themes with personal reflections, maintaining community involvement beyond horror month.

This review reflects a nuanced appreciation of Flatliners (2017) as a commendable and thoughtful remake that both honors and reinvents the original’s core concepts, enriched by strong performances and contemporary production values, while recognizing limitations in narrative choices and franchise continuity.

00:00:03
retreat my fellow film buff first. It’s the 31 Days of Dread, the annual event where the film buff, that’s me, Peter A. DeLuca, coming to you from Philadelphia, PA, where I discuss and review and bring to your attention one horror movie a day for the entire month of October. This year’s theme is Tubi. We can watch all of these movies for free. You can watch them as a guest. You don’t even need an email login. We can share the experience together. So, get ready, get some candy, don’t get too scared.

00:00:37
Let’s go. >> [groaning] >> Kiefer Sutherland is in this movie. I I I I had no idea. I stopped the movie. I I I had to look it up. Is he the same character from the 1990 Flatliners? The 2017 Flatliners has a different character. I cannot tell you my disappointment. That might be the the deepest criticism, disappointment I I have with with this movie. And AKA Pad is day two. Welcome back. It’s the 31 Days of Dread where we do one horror movie a day for the entire month of October, year nine. Hang out

00:01:17
with me. It’s all go, no quit. There There’s a couple different threads we can get into with Flatliners. See, if you watch Flatliners 2000 and 17 and you watch Flatliners 1990, the the one true original, so far, one true original. There’s an overlap in plot, in theme, intention. We still have a group of medical students that are highly competitive. And then we delve into the hook of Flatliners. It’s not an existential argument or breakdown or discussion about the afterlife and and what to expect when we

00:02:02
die. The initial plot, the initial idea, I would say from a the surface of the trailer, that’s what we expect. We We want this to be a deep movie with horror ties. We want to get scared, but we Give us something thought-provoking. But, it’s not that. And I feel the 2017 Flatliners sketches out in details more of the ideas. It It It almost makes you appreciate the 1990 effort so much more. We’re still dealing with truth and regret. We’re dealing with hang-ups in our life that hold us up, that that hold us back.

00:02:50
Uh trauma that we’ve inflicted on to other people and how do we reconcile that as adults. This Flatliners does it. The 1990 does it. But, we have this shift. Joel Schumacher in his lit set-decorated Hollywood production, you know, like high-end Hollywood production, when we see what troubles our doctors, we’ll we’ll phrase it that way. What we see what they bring back from flatlining, we see it in 2017. Our characters flatline and they bring the truth back with them. It’s more theatrical theatrical, it’s

00:03:39
more cinematic, uh more dramatic. It’s more over-the-top and thus more fun in 1990 versus 2017. But, if you watch the 1990 Flatliners, and this is what it, one of the few studies that you can do this with. It does make this these two movies as a combo very valuable. If you watch the 1990 Flatliners and you say, “I want it to be more grounded, more I want it to be more realistic when these people confront their uh their own truths, so to speak, or when when when they when they confront their

00:04:19
mishaps. Can it be a little bit normal? Can it be a little bit more streamlined? >> [snorts] >> And we get that here. We also get a shocking death of uh Ellen Page’s character. Right? It’s Ellen Page, not Elliot Page, Courtney. We have Diego Luna. We know him from Star Wars: Rogue One. He plays Rey. He is the best character, best actor. I think he’s an absolute standout. We got Kiersey Clemons who up until this point I had only seen in The Flash movie. She I love her on screen. She just

00:05:01
photographs so freaking well. To me, like you know, like just a uh like a movie star’s movie star, almost. I I Since The Flash, I was expecting her to get, you know, used a little bit more to get, you know, to get into Dune, to get into maybe a Star Wars movie, get into an MCU movie cuz I feel like her her look is so unique and she kind of embeds herself in your mind. We get James Norton as Jamie. His arc very satisfying by the end. Is it that again, like dramatic as and over the top as what we see in 1990, but no. And then

00:05:47
we get Nina, and then there’s the the hot girl, right? Like we we need a stereotypical hot girl. Nina, played by Nina Dobrev. Her whole thing about the jellyfish might be the worst part of the entire movie. Outside of what I said earlier, it it it’s not quite there, but also too, the like for example, Julia Roberts in 1990, her father died of a heroin like overdose, and and when she reconciles that, she she goes back to a time where she walked in on him when she was a little girl, and they have a

00:06:24
crying moment. So, a lot of what we get in 1990 and 2017, it’s it’s the same level. Well, we’ll just call it mass audience movie logic. But, we get the weight of Courtney’s death in this. And the weight is the through line now. That happens that that that through lines all the way to the end of this movie where it’s quite thoughtful and endearing and a little bit sad. I was with this movie, AK Powers. I thought I was you know, potentially walking into like a Lifetime or a Hallmark movie version

00:07:06
of Flatliners. What we got were all the core concepts that make the original Flatliners unique. We got a new cast. We got a good-looking cast. We have a different shoot where the original Flatliners is truly more gothic, and this is more Apple. It’s just more It’s more bright. I call this type of shooting Apple shooting cuz it looks like an Apple’s Apple Store. I was blown away. I enjoyed this. It’s not the perfect remake or part remake with some deconstruction points. It echoes a lot of what I thought worked

00:07:45
in the first Flatliners and it works it it works as a fantastic pair to that 1990 masterpiece. I just wish Kiefer Sutherland’s character carried on. That if that was the same character, I would say this is one of the best remakes or updates or reboots of the modern day uh underneath the radar ones of those. But yeah, all right, AKA Bash. 31 Days of Dread, Flatliners 2017, full recommendation. Find it now on Tubi. With wrapping up this episode, let me remind you what we have coming. As you guys know, 31 Days of Dread, one horror

00:08:26
movie a day for the entire month of October. But going into November, it’s Thanksflicking, where I document the films I’m thankful for and it gets very personal sometimes. And then we get Cinemassacre, December, Christmas. We love Christmas movies, we do horror Christmas movies, we do action Christmas movies, we do children’s films, we do the high, we do the low, we do the obscure. So hopefully I’ll see you there for some of that as well. And don’t forget, the best way, the easiest way, the free way

00:09:00
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PETER A DELUCA AKAPD

AKAPAD is a versatile thinker known across Philadelphia, Europe, and even in the vast Multiverse as The Electic One. By day, he excels as an IT Mastermind, assisting individuals, both big and small, with a wide range of simple and complex solutions. In contrast, he is also a talented illustrator, a passionate comic book enthusiast, a creative content creator, and an active live streamer. Additionally, his podcast, “AKAPAD The Film Buff Podcast,” boasts an impressive catalog of over 500 episodes available on nearly every major platform.