Brain on Fire (2016) Reviews

• Got the condition to a T

  kaitlynmarie-204392017-08-15

  SPOILER: I personally also have AE encephalitis. I also went undiagnosed for many years. To anyone in the past reviews who said it wasn't special, it is. They nailed the hallucinations you get. *hearing and seeing*, the seizures, panic attacks, mania, ocd like symptoms. Everything in this movie was very accurate. Anyone who says it wasn't necessary for making, it was. It's based off the book brain on fire: my month of madness. She was the 217th person ever to be diagnosed with this. We need more awareness. The actors were amazing. Chloe nailed the role and so did the father. The boyfriend was a bit irritating and the beginning is a lil slow but it picks up fast. And when it does, it's like beautiful art. 10/10 would recommend!!

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• This Movie Mirrors Our Experience With the Same Disease!

  vbjorklund2018-06-23

  This movie has been wrongly criticized for showing clueless doctors. However, this disease was not even identified by the World Health Organization until 2007 and was only named in 2009! My family member has in 2017 been diagnosed with this disease and it was his 47th doctor who diagnosed him!!! Thus, it is important for viewers to know the diagnosis journey depicted in Brain on Fire is REAL and NOT FICTIONAL and COMMON when it portrays how hard in the real world it is for well-known doctors to diagnose this disease so that it can be treated. This movie depicts two important messages: 1. Trust your gut if a doctor says something you disbelieve like "She must be drinking too much" or "She belongs in a mental hospital" and 2. Keep asking for the views of additional doctors until you get the Dr. House-like Dr. Najjar or his team who figures it out. FYI, Mt. Sinai Hospital researchers are currently conducting a study--independent of this movie but timely!--to report to their profession the high percentage of autoimmune encephalopathy patients who are incorrectly diagnosed with psychological disorders before eventually getting the autoimmune encephalopathy diagnosis and treatment. We recommend this movie especially to anyone interested in the diagnosis process and medical mysteries.

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• From a Doctor who focuses on a related condition

  chiggen-995092018-06-24

  Let me preface by stating I am a doctor who has devoted the last 10 years of my career to a closely related condition called PANDAS/PANS, which produces symptoms like Susannah's but in school-aged children. I know the real Dr. Najjar well and we refer patients to one another. I think the movie must be judged on the public service it provides as much as a work of cinematic art. I think the movie does a good job trying to depict what is happening in the head of Susanna as the disease takes hold. It tries to depict auditory hallucinations and epileptic phenomena, which only a small percentage of viewers have experience with. Just imagine the terror a person walking the busy, noisy streets of Manhattan must experience while experiencing intense auditory and visual hallucinations. The sad truth is, there are many many homeless people in big cities who are experiencing this every day. The particular condition Susannah has is "rare", but there are thousands of people with the category of disease to which it belongs - so called "autoimmune encephalopathy" (AE). I think the movie shows a sharp contrast between 20th century psychiatry (psychoanalysis, drugs) and 21st century psychiatry, where a few pioneers like Najaar are actually looking for root causes. Just to give you an idea of the importance of this condition, Columbia University Vagelos School of Medicine held a two day conference this past March on AE and PANDAS/PANS. I can tell you that EVERY person with a sudden change in mental status, with no prior history of the same, and no simpler explanation MUST be evaluated for AE and, in children, for PANDAS/PANS. It just might save them for a needless lifetime of visits to the Cuckoo's Nest.

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• The rating doesn't Justify the MOVIE!

  m-tahir2017-06-27

  Let me start by stating I gave this movie a 10. OK.. may be got too excited but it doesn't deserve anything less than a 8. The negative comments are beyond my understanding. The story is based on true events. So obviously the end of the movie will depict what happened in reality. But I loved the ending. you have to watch this. The acting done by every one specially Chloe and the Dad was simply amazing. The direction of the movie was great. Gives you something to watch. You stay hooked to this movie till the end. I mean for me i wish the movie was a bit longer. It ended too soon. If I'm not wrong, I think they call it giving depth to the character. And that has been done brilliantly in this movie. No spoilers. But its a much watch. Ignore the negative comments and the low rating. If nothing, I Promise you once your done, u would have learned something new about medical science. But that is just an understatement.

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• Some doctors can be wrong - make sure you go to the right one

  phd_travel2017-06-25

  A healthy young reporter starts having psychotic episodes and seizures. Initially doctors diagnosed her with psychiatric problems. This movie teaches us to question the diagnoses our doctors give us when they can't give you the answers that you know deep down are right. Many treat symptoms with medication but don't go to the cause. It took a specialist doctor who interestingly in this time of the crisis in the Middle East is of Syrian origin to find the root of the problem which was a relatively newly diagnosed auto immune disease and treat her. After all the struggle with the missed or wrong diagnosis it would have been nice to see the specific treatment she got to get better. Chloe Grace Moretz acts very convincingly throughout the very stages of her illness. I can't think of another actress who could have done it better. She has grown even prettier too. Strange casting of her parents Carrie Anne Moss and Richard Armitage both dark haired - maybe it was like that in real life. Well done - a movie that needs to be seen by many.

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