Strange Voices

Strange Voices
Promotional advertisement
Directed by	Arthur Allan Seidelman
Written by	Donna Powers Wayne Powers
Starring	Nancy McKeon Valerie Harper
Music by	John Addison
Cinematography	Hanania Baer
Editing by	Robin Wilson
Distributed by	NBC
Release dates	October 19, 1987
Running time	100 minutes
Country	US
Language	English

Strange Voices is a 1987 television film about schizophrenia directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman and written by Wayne and Donna Powers. It was one the ten highest rated made for TV movies that year with a 33 share in the Nielsen Ratings. The reviews were mixed as the film was criticized as inferior to other made-for-television movies about the disorder, including Promise (1986).^[1] The New York Times, for instance, called it "too much, too late".^[2]

Plot

Nicole is a bright, gifted and attractive college student, with a normal home life and a boyfriend. Trouble starts when she gets paranoid that her boyfriend is cheating on her. She comments that "they" told her everything. "They" apparently being the voices. She returns home and starts to hear voices. Confused, she begins acting violently, destroying her father's computer and offending his guests during a party. Her parents Dave and Lynn take her to the hospital, where she is diagnosed with schizophrenia. They refuse to believe that she has the disorder, however, blaming Nicole's behavior on her split with Jeff. They ignore the doctor's advice and take her back home, where she admits to her younger sister Lisa that she reacted that way because she heard voices and couldn't control herself. Nicole soon returns to college, takes back Jeff and stops taking the medication she was prescribed.

Soon, she starts to hear voices again and she becomes delusional. She ends up stopping in the middle of a freeway, stepping out of her car and panicking. Her parents agree to take her to the hospital. They are upset to find out that there is no cure, and respond angrily when she denies treatment. Lynn tries to force her to take medication, but she refuses to, explaining that it makes her feel sick. However, without the medication, she has a relapse of her psychotic symptoms. Realizing what she is doing, she gives in on the pills and allows her mother to help her. Side effects include suffering from seizures, which pushes her to make the decision to quit using medication again. She pretends that she is taking the pills, but she is caught by Lisa.

Nicole is upset to find out that her parents are constantly arguing over the way she should be treated. Meanwhile, Lisa feels neglected by their parents and blames Nicole for acting the way she does only to get attention. After a few other outbursts, including destroying items with a knife and starting a small kitchen fire, Lynn sends her to a mental institution. Dave is opposed to this, feeling that he is abandoning his daughter. Nicole stills refuses to take pills, telling her psychiatrist that she would rather feel confused than to feel nothing at all. One night, she escapes from the institution and is nowhere to be found. During his search for her, Dave blames himself for what happened to her.

After two weeks without a trace of her, Nicole is arrested for having eaten at a diner without paying. She is questioned, but inititally can't remember who she is. Lynn and Lisa finally pick her up and take her home. Dave refuses to talk to her and when Lynn confronts him on it, he responds that she is too sick to notice anyways. Meanwhile, Lisa is admitted to Rochester University, but she decides not to go, much to the distress of Lynn. Upon confronting her, Lisa admits that she is afraid that to turn out the same way as Nicole, but Lynn assures her that that is not a possibility. In the end, Nicole tries to commit suicide by an overdose. She recovers and builds up a bond with her father again, and Lynn and Dave finally decide to work together as well to help Nicole.

Cast

References

External links

• Strange Voices at the Internet Movie Database