This review may contain spoilers!
A Mistake is an adaptation of Carl Shuker's novel of the same name, in which surgeon Liz Taylor comes under scrutiny for alleged medical malpractice. After a sepsis patient Liz was operating on dies to her infection, focus begins to draw to the surgery in which a mistake happened during the operation.
This is a very compelling drama, the sort of topic that if you don't have a lot of knowledge on, really makes you yearn to discover a bit more around medical practice. Yet, while the film touts some weighty themes, I found myself personally most invested in the story of Liz Taylor and the downward descent she finds herself upon. Liz is a powerhouse figure when first we meet her, a dominant presence in the operating theory and entirely confident in herself. We note some early points of weakness in her character, she is very arrogant which leads to her pushing her registrar to make an insertion he is unprepared for, and Liz isn't naturally empathetic with her patients and their families. The fallout of her patient's death results in Liz bumbling the post-mortem sit down with the family, leading to her name being dragged through the papers and the hospital itself coming under fire. From here her life only spirals as she is faced with increased monitoring of her surgery results, suspension of her ability to practise, a mite infestation in her home, her girlfriend leaving her and multiple deaths resulting from this fallout. Liz really gets broken throughout this piece and watching her take the broken pieces, acknowledge her blame and fight for others ultimately is a very satisfying character arc to watch.
Frank Ilfman's morose score perfectly represents the descent into despair this film takes us on, it's a very sombre piece of music that filters in nicely throughout this grey visual.
Simon McBurney, who played Andrew McGrath, is a bit of a moustache twirling antagonist, but he works so neatly for it; McBurney revels in being the bully to Banks all film long. Mickey Sumner, who played Robin, feels quietly exciting and intoxicating, which shows why Banks is so captivated with her; it was nice to see Sumner's own crisis of conscience in staying with Banks during the events of the film. Joel Tobeck, who played Alistair, is a pretty gruff and ready leader of the hospital; Tobeck exudes the management role very well, and he connects neatly with Banks in their first scene. Richard Crouchley, who played Richard, is a very meek and earnest character who desires to do the best; watching Crouchley take his character on a very depressive spiral is arresting to watch. Niwa Whatuira, who played the Bio Ethicist, is a very calculating and hard to like character at times; there's a degree of cold indifference to Whatuira which makes him an incredible on-screen rival for Banks.
However, the best performance came from Elizabeth Banks, who played Liz Taylor. This role is a real hardass at times, she can be impassive and wields her intellect like a weapon and a status symbol. Yet, it's clear within this performance that attitude is earned, it comes from skill and hard work well performed. Banks plays the theatre scene in which the operation goes wrong really well, from an arrogant outburst to a laser-like and driven focus. This whole film we see the hard fighter she is within her workplace and outside that space, the way she is emotionally drained or beaten up by those events. I loved seeing how distanced she comes across even in her closest relationships with her girlfriend or sister. The scene in which she has to put down her sister's dog is one of the saddest things you'll see in this film, rivalled closely by her being the first responder to a suicide. Liz Taylor is a strong and impressive role that goes on a wonderful character arc, brought to life by Elizabeth Banks. It's almost enough to excuse the questionable Kiwi accent.
A Mistake grapples with some pretty big themes of medical ethics and accountability. It frames a surgery for a sepsis patient in which three incisions and insertions have to be made. Liz takes the first and performs the third incision, but goads her registrar into making the final insertion. He does and fails, leading to damage within the organs; Taylor fixes this and the patient later dies of her infection. The whole film then descends into questioning whether Liz is right about the surgery not being the cause of death, also pondering if that patient should be held against her morbidity stats even though the patient was likely to pass. The film gets lost down the road about how to talk to families about these events and what good accountability looks like in the medical field. The film even asks if we should be tracking and releasing success and morbidity data for each practising surgeon, or if this will just drive good doctors out of work. The whole film is riddled with moral questions, often very precise for the medical profession, but it doesn't have the surety to answer them. Often the film pushes an idea back and forth a little and then events just progress. A Mistake is very tentative around taking a stance at the best of times. This is also a sluggish film, it isn't in any hurry to reach conclusions or dramatic heights despite the nature of the events in the film.
The design of this film tries to get creative without much to work with at times, but overall the film is a drab, grey, lifeless thing. There doesn't seem to be much insight into how to draw effective visuals from a bland fake hospital, the Auckland CBD or a basic house set. Overall, the film is edited and coloured to be slow and dull.
Fern Sutherland, who played Jessica, is a hard sell as Banks' sister; the pair don't really have much chemistry, even in their big emotional character moment of the film. Rena Owen and Matthew Sunderland, who played Tessa and Owen respectively, are almost cartoonish and over the top in their portrayal of grief; it's an embarrassing contrast to some of the dramatic performers in the same scenes as them.
In spite of a brilliant cast, this is a film lost in its own complex themes and washed out colour palette. I would give A Mistake a 5.5/10.
