Like Minds (2006)

A forensic psychologist (Collette) is tasked with determining whether or not a minor should face murder charges for killing his schoolmate.

Director:

Gregory Read (as Gregory J. Read)

Writer:

Gregory Read (as Gregory J. Read)

Stars:

Eddie Redmayne, Tom Sturridge, Toni Collette

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eddie Redmayne	...	Alex Forbes
Tom Sturridge	...	Nigel Colbie
Toni Collette	...	Sally Rowe
Richard Roxburgh	...	Martin McKenzie
Kate Maberly	...	Susan Mueller
Jon Overton	...	Josh Campbell (as Jonathan Overton)
Amit Shah	...	Raj Mehta
David Threlfall	...	John Colbie
Cathryn Bradshaw	...	Helen Colbie
Patrick Malahide	...	Headmaster
Hugh Sachs	...	Rev Donaldson
Liam McKenna	...	Mr Fergus
Bryan Robson	...	Mr Evans
Paul Sonkkila	...	Police Bureaucrat
Craig Crosbie	...	Coroner

Storyline

The forensic psychiatric Sally Rowe is called by Detective Martin Mackenzie to analyze the profile of the teenager Alex Forbes, who was found in a train station holding the body of his schoolmate Nigel Colby and with powder in his hand. Alex discloses his relationship with Nigel, who believes that they were descendants of the Templar Knights, and how Nigel used the power of his mind to control him. Mackenzie believes that Alex is the killer, but Susan investigates the family of Nigel under pressure of Alex's father, and finds that all of them belong to an ancient and powerful secret society.

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Plot Keywords:

frame up | barefoot male | forensic psychologist | psychologist | murder | 

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Taglines:

Fear and evil make deadly companions.

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Genres:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

Darclight Films Dendy Films

Country:

Australia UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 November 2006 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Murderous Intent

Filming Locations:

Bradford Grammar School, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$886,756

Company Credits

Production Co:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC), Lumina Films, Bluewater Pictures

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Actress Toni Collette, who plays Sally Rowe, said of this film: "Sally Rowe is a forensic psychologist who is bought in to interview a young murder suspect. She goes in as an objective eye but the more time she spends with Alex [Eddie Redmayne], the more you see her being drawn into the nightmare. It infiltrates her life. On the shoot, I found myself in my hotel room at night looking around, thinking what is going on here?. I imagine the same thing would have happened to Sally Rowe whilst involved in a case like this...I did a lot of reading for the role. Greg (Read, writer-director) put together a file about Gestalt Psychology, Juvenile Psychology, excerpts from papers written by female psychologists who do forensic work...so it was a combination of reading and using my intuition. I take my hat off to people working in that industry because it is just so intense, you are dealing with life and death, and the whole mess in between. I was interested (as an actor) by the psychology of someone who deals with that on a day to today basis."

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Goofs

When Sally is reading about serial killers on the computer, she comes across something about Myra Hindley that has been mistakenly spelled as Mayra Hindley.

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Quotes

Josh Campbell: Alex is an egocentric megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur.

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Connections

References The 39 Steps (1935)

User Reviews

Like Minds is a complicated contemporary thriller with a jarring twist; hauntingly beautiful and sharp as a knife.

Have you ever just clicked with someone? Ever felt they just got you, like they were inside your head? But what if that link had a sinister side? What if their knowing you was involuntary? Like Minds (2006) is the tale of one such relationship; a complicated adversarial tussle between two boys bound by history, mythology and blood. But it is not your ordinary thriller.

Alex Forbes (Eddie Redmayne) is a cocky private school boy living with the mantle of his lineage. With more than charm behind his smile, he plays being son-of-the-principal to his favour where he can, but when he is forced to share his room with a beautiful and strange boy, Nigel Colby (Tom Sturridge), Alex finds himself being slowly suffocated by a string of deaths. But when these occurrences culminate in Nigel's death, Alex is taken into custody.

Lacking hard evidence and under pressure from Alex's father, Senior Detective Martin Mckenzie (Richard Roxburgh) enlists the expertise of forensic psychologist Sally Rowe (Toni Collette) to dig up foundation to the charges. Her investigations force her into an awkward and testing psychological dialogue with Alex that continues to delve deeper into mystery and murder. But even as information comes to light, the relationships between the characters prove to be as tightly woven as the rich mythology that under pins the story.

Doused in history, religion and suspense, Like Minds is disturbingly sophisticated, visually beautiful and completely captivating. The acting of Eddie Redmayne is chillingly brilliant, but by far Tom Sturridge's is the most impressive, being haunting and calculated with a cold, unemotional stare that will sink deep into you.

Nigel Bluck's cinematography is beautiful, with a saturated and dark aesthetic that is as melancholic as the soundtrack. Both add so much to the depth of Like Minds.

Like Minds is a complicated contemporary thriller with a jarring twist; hauntingly beautiful and sharp as a knife. And it certainly will cut deep.