Danika (2006)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Ariel Vromen

Writer:

Joshua Leibner (writer)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Her visions are beyond your worst fears...

Plot:

The story follows Danika, a woman whose fears for her children are manifested in premonitions of death and disaster. Bierko plays Tomei's husband, while Hall is her psychiatrist and confidant.

Plot Keywords:

Children | Premonition | Nightmare | Psychiatrist | Nanny

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Marisa Tomei	...	Danika Merrick
Hannah Marks	...	Lizzie Geralds
Guy Camilleri	...	Man
Akuyoe Graham	...	Patricia Guilford
Ori Pfeffer	...	Bank Robber #1
Jeffrey Nicholas Brown	...	Bank Robber #2 (as Jeffrey Brown)
Craig Bierko	...	Randy Merrick
Kyle Gallner	...	Kurt Merrick
Nicki Prian	...	Lauren (as Nicky Prian)
Ridge Canipe	...	Brian Merrick
Regina Hall	...	Evelyn Harris
Jacqueline Piñol	...	Nanny
James Avery	...	Teddy Johnson
Tanya Linette Smith	...	Sales Lady
John Ducey	...	TV Anchorman

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language, some sexual content and a scene of drug use.

Runtime:

USA:79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Blue Omega Entertainment

Trivia:

Craig Bierko joined the cast the day before shooting began, replacing the original actor cast as Randy.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: In the TV version you can see the microphones overhead throughout the entire movie. The first incidence is when Danika's boss comes to her desk and asks to meet with her. It can also be seen when Danika is meeting with her psychiatrist, and when her husband has a family meeting with the children.

Movie Connections:

References A Knight's Tale (2001)

Soundtrack:

Black Dirt

Only enjoyable because of Marisa Tomei's performance

Let's see: I had great expectations towards this film, since Danika pretty much has the potential to be a fairly enjoyable thriller, but to my disappointment, it turned out to be one of those films that deliberately try to be confusing just for kicks. I don't know about the others, but I'd say I had my share of these kinds of psychological thrillers that usually lead to the same disappointing endings and nonsensical sequences. You know, the typical soft-horror/thriller/drama flick in which the main character keeps having hallucinations and visions about horrible things happening around her and the rest of the characters are dead worried but they still don't do anything to help her out. Even though Ariel Vromen succeeds to create a puzzling atmosphere and there are two or three enjoyable moments, I'd say that these 'twist in the end' fever has been pretty much overdone already. This film pretty much offers a nice variety of pointless hallucination sequences in which Marisa Tomei, giving a flawless performance, always repeats the same situations but in different scenarios. Obviously, it ends up getting tedious after a a while.

'Danika' is the story of a genuinely desperate housewife, whose main fear is to lose one of her children or the three of them, for that matter. This obsession of overprotecting her kids, turns out to be the result of a traumatic childhood experience, in which poor little Danika loses her brother in a road accident. During the course of the film, the mentally unstable woman, appears basically smothering her children and over-worrying about every little thing, making the rest of her family lose their patience. However, it is clear to Danika that something is definitely not okay with her, as she realizes that she's experiencing weird hallucinations that turn her life into hell on earth.

This film offers a few sequences that promise some sort of explanation whatsoever or at least a tiny little connection to the end. Nevertheless, just like many other recent flicks out there with a twist in the end, 'Danika' turned out to be ambiguous for no reason and it tries to deceive the audience and doubt about their own intelligence. My advice is to avoid this film, unless you are bored and you have nothing else to see. I wouldn't label it as 'unwatchable', because that would be unfair, considering that there are a few good things that deserve to be appreciated, but it's mostly Marisa Tomei's performance actually. 'Danika' is not terribly bad, but frankly, I was utterly disappointed when the good atmosphere and the few achievements were suddenly overshadowed by the silly ending. I wouldn't recommend this... sorry.