Let me start by giving you a heads up. There are some strong themes in this film. For a movie that’s centered around the issue of mental health it seems like this would have made one hell of a grim story, but at it’s center is a warm heart and with the film playing out in very comic book chapters, like the Daniel Schaffer graphic novel its based on, it comes to the screen a lighter and more jovial affair. Directed by John Suits, the film is everything and absolutely nothing like what you’d be expecting from a film that focuses on the multiple personalities of it’s lead character, Suki, played quite well by Kate Cassidy.
The film ultimately revolves around Suki (Cassidy) and a device she’s been given to ‘burn out’ her multiple personalities. Yes, it looks as painful as it sounds. One of these personalities happens to be an entity known only as The Scribbler. It lacks the ability to speak and can only communicate by writing backwards.
Throughout the film, and in the glimpses you see up to the finale, you’re introduced to the idea that this personality isn’t entirely Human and is capable of feats no normal person should be capable of. While all this is going on there are a steady trail of suspicious suicides and Suki is left with the belief that this personality may be in some way responsible. As the film progresses she comes to question what it is that makes her the real Suki.
The altogether down setting for most of the film is an apartment complex called Juniper Towers; a dank, dark and filthy building, and what’s serving as a halfway house for the local psychiatric hospital. In this building we’re introduced to the rest of the cast. Misfits with a variety of disorders.
The Scribbler comes with a number of surprises. There’s a somewhat striking cast with Eliza Dushku, Michelle Trachtenburg and Garret Dillahunt to name but a few and there’s some quick witted and devilishly sharp script in there as well. The visuals are as gritty, offbeat and as biting as the ideas 
buried inside, and it plays with the space between B-list and A-list film like its a new standard.
There are some disappointing issues with execution. The single male occupant of Juniper Towers, Hogan (Dillahunt), and sole supposedly sane person is a source of contention for me; when it comes to the reason he’s there to begin with the logic and plot behind it is so wishy-washy it causes me physical pain to even think about. There are a number of problems throughout with convenience for the sake of plot and at a lot of points in the film you feel very let down with the lazy way they’ve brought something to the screen or were they’ve taken a fantastic idea. On the whole it’s an ambitious affair and it would have benefited from a little more subtly and careful attention.
Despite the surreal imagery and plot there’s probably more realism to be found in the characters’ portrayal than in most films produced. Usually, characters with mental illness are very two-dimensional outside of their depicted purpose; to move the plot, to garner sympathy, to be the villain. Almost every single person you’ll see on screen in this film has issues, even the ones that aren’t supposed to. Everything from bipolar disorder, depression, multiple personality, addiction; it’s a wide range. However, that doesn’t stop the film from trying to portray them as real people. With all the desires and humor and faults of actual Human beings. There’s a question that’s asked in the film. “Do you want to be ‘normal’?” It’s a film that treats mental illness with an acceptance that I find absolutely refreshing. Mental illness on screen tends to be a villain to beat or an obstacle to overcome. When do you see it as simply another state of being?
All in all, The Scribbler is an enjoyable film. It has it’s faults, most films do, but there are enough gems to at least give this weird little beast a shot. I can say that a lot of you won’t like it, but there will also be a lot of people who will.
Depending on my mood it’s either the best film I’ve seen this year or the worst. 7/10
