Fear Of Rain is a rather creative and compelling mix of dealing with mental illness drama, and who’s living next door thriller. The film features a great/ believable cast, clever visuals, and an even blend of heartfelt emotional drama and tense thrills. All making the film one of my big surprises favourite pictures of 2021, which is at present only available as a streamed film via Amazon Prime Video.

Fear Of Rain is the third film from Bradenton, Florida born Castille Landon- who directed and wrote the picture. And it’s a very self-assured film- which cleverly balances real emotional and at points, heartbreaking drama, moments of tense thrills, with sprinkles of fairly unsettling hallucinated visual fantasy, and coming of age romance. It really is a wonderful balancing act of picture, which works perfectly though-out.

The film focuses on Rain Burroughs (Madison Iseman)- a talented if troubled teen who has a real passion for art, and is in her last few years of high school, but unfortunately she suffers from debilitating schizophrenia. When we first meet her, she tired down in hospital sliding in and out of consciousness, as her worried parents Michelle(Katherine Heigl) and John( Harry Connick Jr.) look on in worry. She stopped taking her meds, and this led her to rip apart her room and attack her father, she told if she doesn’t stay on her meds, she will be put full time in a psychiatric hospital. In due course, she is released & goes back to high school, but unfortunately, all of her friends have turned their back on Rain- taunting her for mental illness. A new geeky-though-charming teen in school Caleb (Israel Broussard) befriends her, though she is not sure if he’s real or not.

Due to wreaking her room when she had her freaked-out, it’s decided Rain moves into the guest bedroom- this overlooks the large attic of the house next door, and she sees her neighbour Ms McConnell (Eugenie Bondurant) struggling with a little African American girl. She’s a single mid-age woman, who also is a teacher at Rains school. Rains parents and her psychiatrist believe it’s another one of her delusions, though she is keen to prove them all wrong.

Madison Iseman is astonishingly good and believable as the living with mental illness teen, and she really does go through an emotional roller-coaster. Heigl and Connick are very convincing as her parents- trying to help their daughter as much as they can, but also live their own lives too. Broussard is likeable and charming as the is he real or not love interest. To illustrate Rain’s schizophrenia, we get a clever use of asking/ then crossing out or ticking CBT phases, as well of course uses of layered taunting voices, and at points some quite unsettling imagery. Though-out the film bounces, you back and forth between emotionally push and pull, and what is really going on thriller- with the whole thing leaving you guessing right up until the very end. The film plays at just shy of the one hour and fifty-minute mark, and it never drags/ lulls- keeping you full held, either emotionally or tensely throughout.

To put it simply I was blown away by Fear of Rain- and its even/ intelligent blend of drama and thriller. I do hope this film gets a wider possibly theatrical release, or Blu Ray release- as it does deserve this, and I’m positive it’s a film that will have wider appeal/ interest. To stream the film head here