The expression "a fugue state" is coined by Dr. Lisa, the psychiatrist treating her patient Olivia Whitmore. The term is a polite way of saying that Olivia is nuttier than a fruit cake.
"Is My Daughter Really Dead?" (a.k.a., "Gaslit") is a thriller that develops an elaborate charade of duping the artist and mother Olivia into thinking that she is going crazy. Through a carefully orchestrated conspiracy, Olivia is led to believe that both her husband Layne and her daughter Hannah perished in an auto accident. Olivia senses that this is a lie, and she valiantly pursues the truth through the fog in her head in order to re-connect with her daughter.
The dastardly plan is conceived by Olivia's lout of a husband Layne, a philanderer and a liar, who will stop at nothing to destroy his wife. Layne mistakenly believes that Olivia has been unfaithful to him with her artist friend Jack. It is Layne who is having an affair with a mystery woman who is not revealed until the end.
The film was stylishly directed with intense close-ups and a grainy photography that gave the impression that we were in the same kind of foggy world as Olivia. A visual metaphor was the hot water boiling on the burner powered by the gas. Just as the kettle is boiling over, so Olivia is about to reach breaking point after being gaslit by her tormentors.
A couple of the most interesting characters are Olivia's neighbors, Mary and her daughter Sidney. It slowly becomes apparent that Mary is not coming clean with Olivia. Young Sidney will play a key role in uncovering the duplicity of her lascivious mom. Jack, the artist friend and secret admirer of Olivia and Detective Bruce Chambers round out the dramatis personae with the psychiatrist Dr. Lisa, who pays house calls to her patient.
After a tension-packed race on foot at Layne's cabin retreat, there is a thundering climax that assembles all of the principal characters. A touching denouement focuses on the reunion of mother and daughter in a scene where they are both painting the same flower vase. In a saga involving a ghoulish plot of "ambient abuse," Olivia and Hannah are survivors who are inseparable in their mother-daughter bond.
"Is My Daughter Really Dead?" (a.k.a., "Gaslit") is a thriller that develops an elaborate charade of duping the artist and mother Olivia into thinking that she is going crazy. Through a carefully orchestrated conspiracy, Olivia is led to believe that both her husband Layne and her daughter Hannah perished in an auto accident. Olivia senses that this is a lie, and she valiantly pursues the truth through the fog in her head in order to re-connect with her daughter.
The dastardly plan is conceived by Olivia's lout of a husband Layne, a philanderer and a liar, who will stop at nothing to destroy his wife. Layne mistakenly believes that Olivia has been unfaithful to him with her artist friend Jack. It is Layne who is having an affair with a mystery woman who is not revealed until the end.
The film was stylishly directed with intense close-ups and a grainy photography that gave the impression that we were in the same kind of foggy world as Olivia. A visual metaphor was the hot water boiling on the burner powered by the gas. Just as the kettle is boiling over, so Olivia is about to reach breaking point after being gaslit by her tormentors.
A couple of the most interesting characters are Olivia's neighbors, Mary and her daughter Sidney. It slowly becomes apparent that Mary is not coming clean with Olivia. Young Sidney will play a key role in uncovering the duplicity of her lascivious mom. Jack, the artist friend and secret admirer of Olivia and Detective Bruce Chambers round out the dramatis personae with the psychiatrist Dr. Lisa, who pays house calls to her patient.
After a tension-packed race on foot at Layne's cabin retreat, there is a thundering climax that assembles all of the principal characters. A touching denouement focuses on the reunion of mother and daughter in a scene where they are both painting the same flower vase. In a saga involving a ghoulish plot of "ambient abuse," Olivia and Hannah are survivors who are inseparable in their mother-daughter bond.