The Lazarus Child (2005)

A road accident leaves seven-year-old Frankie Heywood gravely injured and deeply comatose, when she is hit by a bus, and her twelve-year-old brother Ben severely depressed and traumatised ... See full summary »

Director:

Graham Theakston

Writer:

Ronald Bass (screenplay)

Stars:

Andy Garcia, Frances O'Connor, Angela Bassett

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Andy Garcia	...	Jack Heywood
Frances O'Connor	...	Alison Heywood
Angela Bassett	...	Dr. Elizabeth Chase
Harry Eden	...	Ben Heywood
Geraldine McEwan	...	Janet
Daniella Byrne	...	Frankie Heywood
Christopher Shyer	...	John Boyd
Julian Christopher	...	Elliot Chase
Jaimz Woolvett	...	Nathan Greenwater
Louis Ferreira	...	Lewis Kern (as Justin Louis)
Gillian Carfra	...	Pam
Stephen McHattie	...	Chief Prosecutor Warner
Robert Joy	...	Senator Willis
Nicholas Gecks	...	Dr. Trevor Stanhope
Ciaran O'Driscoll	...	Colin Winstanley (as Ciaran O'Driscall)

Storyline

A road accident leaves seven-year-old Frankie Heywood gravely injured and deeply comatose, when she is hit by a bus, and her twelve-year-old brother Ben severely depressed and traumatised after he witnessed the event. Their parents, Jack and Alison, have to put aside their fights over their unstable marriage to focus on their damaged children. But as life looks as if it will never improve for the Heywoods, Jack and Alison hear of a controversial medical therapy that could cajole Frankie from her coma. The treatment involves communicating with the comatose patient to coax them back to consciousness and Ben is the key to unlocking Frankie from her sleep. But will the Heywoods risk their son to save their daughter...?

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Plot Keywords:

unconventional medicine | maverick doctor | conventional medicine | 

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Details

Country:

Italy USA Canada UK Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 November 2006 (Italy)

Also Known As:

L'ultima porta

Filming Locations:

Alberta, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

CAD 488 (Canada), 2 December 2007, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eagle Pictures, Illusion Entertainment Corporation, Midsummer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

Turn Around
Written by Alan Greene, Malvina Reynolds and Harry Belafonte
Published by EMI Songs Ltd.
©1958 Alan Greene Songs (ASCAP) / Clara Music Publishing Corporation (ASCAP)

User Reviews

An emotional thriller of Life

It doesn't strike me odd, that some may find this movie incredibly boring, while others find it incredibly giving.

I guess you have to be one of those, who has been gifted with an experience of true love and a deeper realization of one self, to really open up towards this sort of movie. I feel the director has chosen an open approach very close to reality, when choosing to focus on the emotional drama within each of the characters in the movie.

The director neither forgets to characterize the drama between the realm of the physical science world towards the emotional world - the drama which even to this day separates the therapists from the doctors.

While some directors choose to focus on the drama itself, I find this movie very interesting in the perspective of what is going on in the life of each individual - "You only see, what you wanna see", is so true, that it cannot be spelled often enough. The point is, that the director is NOT one of those spoiling the entire movie, by making everyone think and feel the same.

Everyone has their own version of their story, but the truly amazing part of the movie, is to show how each of us fight to survive the stories of our past, and to forgive ourselves the actions we can no longer change - we can still change how we choose to feel about our past - creating a lighter path for ourselves, and help each other understand that we are all connected, even though we may feel scared, struggling and cutoff from our reality.

Often these sort of dramas get carried away in the event of unhappiness and grief (where often some Christian God is involved). I am amazed how the director actually manages to turn away from such cliché's and focus on the will of recovering and reopening from various individual setbacks.

While our human life is a lot about doing and handling in this world, we shall not forget that is is always the feelings which drive us to our doings - not opposite. The director seems very aware of this, and I thank the creators for making a movie of those, that makes the heart beat much lighter.