Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'The Scribbler'

Written by Scott Edwards

Everybody has at least one voice in their head, their own, but when you start hearing multiple ones, which one do you listen to? Not knowing where they come from may be the scariest part because we all know that they do not get there on their own. With so many different things happening in life, everyone has a different way to cope with their issues including sometimes changing who they are depending on the situation. But if each situation requires a different person to show up, hence a new voice, will anybody ever know who the real you truly is?

Moving into the Juniper Tower is a big step for Suki who suffers from multiple personality disorder, because it means that she is showing improvement.  But moving into the tower also comes with the requirement that she will continue her treatment, The Siamese Burn on herself moving forward. Agreeing to what her doctor has requested, Suki enters the tower as a body falls from one of the top floors and nothing inside of the building seems to be getting better from there. Meeting a couple of women on her way up, Suki learns that she may not be the most insane person there and being on the sixteenth floor means that she is high risk and a lower floor would only guarantee injury…not death.

Entering her room, Suki has found a new home, but the voices inside of her head start to repeat everything that she has been told on her walk up. Wishing she were back at the hospital, a knock on the door and a visit from a familiar face is exactly what she needs. Hogan has been able to get himself sent to Juniper Tower, a building for women to be the ‘rooster in the henhouse.’ Following her voices, Suki gives into her urge and knows that Hogan will eventually get over his resentment for what she is about to do when all is said and done. Showing her friend the machine that she has to hook herself up to for her treatments, Hogan is beside himself and begs her to stay the way that she is. Although she does not hate being different, a little normal seems like a good idea and she plugs herself in.

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As the counter on The Siamese Burn unit goes down, Suki’s blackouts become worse and the suicide count in the Juniper Tower goes up. Not being able to explain what is happening around her, one of Suki’s personalities has become the alpha when she is out. The Scribbler takes to the walls of her apartment and is trying to tell her something and while she does not know what that message is, everything will be explained by her doctor…someday. Seeing that her machine has been rewired as well, and is now tied into more electronics in her new place, Suki has to believe that The Scribbler is trying to get out and take over her body, but when Hogan gets his hands on the machine and she sees its effects on him, Suki has to find a way to believe it is all for the best. 

Just when you think you have it all figured out and watch a movie that has to do with multiple personalities and you try keep track of each person dying, thinking that those deaths are essential to character development, and it turns out that they aren't...wow, The Scribbler broke all the rules of a psychological thriller, and I liked it. I am always hesitant when watching a movie that has to do with so many different characters, but there are only a few that you need to actually pay attention to. With the story being told in a flashback fashion while Suki is being questioned by the police about what happened, you are forced to believe that Suki is crazy and while she is a little bit, the story may have more facts than the cops could have expected. The women around the building are just fantastic and even the dog becomes a scene stealer when all is said and done. With plenty of serious parts in the movie, there are still some places for laughs and you need to enjoy them before the finale, because that's when stuff starts to get real...

Five Takeaways

1. When entering your new home and seeing a body flying down from one of the higher floors, it might not be a place you want to live if you are not mentally sound.
2. Any machine that can count your personalities by hooking up jumper cables to your ears is either genius or dangerous, just saying.
3. When you are told to stay off the stairs by everyone in the building and see a dark shadow lurking while using them, it is probably just a ghost…or a person that wants to push you.
4. When waking up from a blackout in a place other than your apartment, just pray you are by a Halloween shop.
5. Be careful when sleeping around in an open asylum building, you might find that there is an evil ex looking to take care of business that you don’t want any part of.

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